Hi Bob; I put a retractible skeg on a CLC Chesapeake and would not build another kayak without one. When it is down the boat will not turn and when it is up, the handling is not affected. When I am looking for birds and other wildlife and want to let the momentum carry me toward something, I just drop the skeg and the boat goes straight as an arrow. Need to turn and a tug on the rope sets it is back to normal. All the other info about the weight distribution and such is right on. For me the convenience more than offsets the extra pound or so of weight and since I use the kayak for mulitpurpose duty, the flexibility is a definate plus. All my rigging is above deck so there is no problem with water leaking in. Go for it. Jeff