Thanks Charles I tried this trick last night and it's fixed one side, and almost fixed the other side too. I'll add one more strip to the not fixed side to make it balance the other, and then do it again to ensure both sides match.

Your suggestion worked a charm. I used tea towels soaked in boiling water to gently soak the timber, applied pressure, then left it heated overnight. Removed the clamps today and all good! Phew.

I agree with you about the influence I expect this would have on tracking. Nick wouldn't have designed it with a concave section without reason. I imagine that this gentle skeg is quite crucial being so far from the centre of balance. Thanks for your advice to fix it.

Regards Ian

: Hey Ian, I wet the area as much as I needed to soften the glue joints and the
: wood a little. It was fairly soaked when I pulled it down with the straps.
: After I got it pulled into place I heated it again with the heat gun, then
: covered the end of the boat with plastic, placed a little ceramic heater
: inside the plastic and let it heat/dry the area. Then I let it cool before
: removed the straps. It worked out great. Here's a pic of the area after
: everything was removed. The "L" tracks just fine.

: I think what you see on your Guilly is the same thing that happens to a lot
: of people (in varying degrees((many first time builders)) which resulted
: in several posts about tracking problems with the Guillemot. I'm sure
: removing that "fin-like" area of the stern (strips pulling away
: from forms)has its fair share of effect on the tracking. You can also pull
: it down into place AND add a little extra to the external stem if you like
: - its your kayak. I'd much rather have the tracking a little
: "snug" than to have my wife darting around like a minnow every
: time we go paddling. Just remember, it doesn't take much addition to the
: stem to do the job. Focus on the section below the waterline, then blend
: the ends back into the hull.

: You may have to copy the pic to your cpu then blow it up a bit to see the
: concave area where the correction was made. FWIW: the Guillemot with the
: beefed-up stem now tracks just slightly better than my "L" which
: made my wife very happy.

: Happy Building.

: Charles.