Rowing shells, which do not suffer from
Posted by: g2d
on Nov-06-12 7:48 PM (EST)
the waggle forces of kayaks, and are both longer and more directional than sea kayaks, have big fixed skegs underneath.
But I would be careful about over-valueing skegs for any kayak. I have read Grand Canyon kayakers raving about running big rapids with skegs down in their XP10s or Fusions, but I think they have just gotten lazy. At any time, a situation could occur when the skeg would be a liability. You certainly can't run technical rapids with a skeg down.
If one is reaching forward with a good catch, and not prolonging the stroke improperly, the boat should go straight as if pulled by the nose. If it won't do that unless the skeg is down, it's back to technique.