Thank you all for your helpful responses.
As this is my first ever kayak, it has been quite a steep learning curve.
19 foot by 19 inch, based on mae593-76, i built it because i liked the look of it.
Shuffling my weight forward a bit does seem to lessen the wake.
I'm no he-man by the way, just a 150 lb skinny bastard.
and 5-6 knots is only a rough guesstimate. no GPS or any of that.
Most of the time i would be below average cruising speed as i'm not
in it to be fast but rather to enjoy and soak up the sunshine and sights.
And a bit of fishing as well...
thanks again,
tippy, australia

: I reckon that that response from Jay is spot on regarding being on
: the water. If you are in good company then that extra half knot
: seems less important.

: Some boats are better off-wind and some better upwind, and some
: boats just FEEL quicker even though they may not necessarily be
: so. Some boats also feel more buoyant and interactive with the
: water state while others seem to just plod along. Speeds may not
: be that different though.

: I have a friend who used to kayak marathons and we always put him
: in the slowest ugliest boat we can find and he still complains
: that he is having to wait around for us all the time. He is a
: strong paddler, but that does not really explain it. He doesn't
: seem to expend more energy than the rest of us. He is just zoned
: in, through years of doing it right. He just effortlessly gets
: the maximum potential out of whatever boat he finds himself in.
: Very annoying actually.

: Et