Trimming the weight of the kayak, changing the location of the center of gravity, will make a difference in how the kayak performs. I have found that moving the seat forward or back even an inch makes quite a difference. Try moving the seat back, which will put more stern and less bow in the water. This will help tracking by moving the center of resistance back (like adding feathers to an arrow). It will also reduce weather cocking (turning into the wind). If you cannot move the seat back add weight in the back hatch as far aft as you can. A plastic jug of water is convenient ballast. Find a way to secure it in place. You will find as your paddling skills develop, you will need less directional control (skeg or rudder) so try moving your seat and use varying amounts of ballast for a while before considering kayak modifications.

I added a fixed skeg to may kayak (Yare) to improve tracking (it broached with any following wave) and it then was too hard to turn. It then lee cocked (turned downwind) before the skeg it weather cocked. So I progressively trimmed the skeg until the kayak was neutral in the wind (no turning). It still was too hard to turn. So I enlarged the cockpit 2-1/2 inches to the back to allow me to move the seat back some more while removing more of the skeg and keep the kayak neutral in the wind (without ballast). I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want any less skeg in the following seas because, on occasions, it takes a full correction stroke for me to keep the kayak on course. And it sure is nice not to have to make much correction in crosswinds. Waves still push the bow and stern around.

A while back I commented on this BB about lee cocking. I revised it below to address weather cocking, which is more common.

If you picture you in your kayak crosswise to the wind, there is an area presented to the wind that creates drag, a force applied by the wind. That drag force pushes you and the kayak sideways. The sideways movement of the hull through the water creates a lateral resistance force on the side of the hull pushing opposite in direction to the wind. Both of these forces can be represented as point forces acting at their respective centroids. If the centroids line up vertically with each other your kayak will not tend to turn (yaw). Now then, if your kayak is "weather cocking" the wind force is behind the lateral hull resistance force and a moment (rotation force) is created that will rotate the bow of the kayak into the wind.

So how can you reduce this weather-cocking tendency? Two ways. 1- Put less front keel in the water and/or more aft keel which will move the lateral center of resistance of the water on the hull aft. 2- Put more wind area (deck) forward and/or less aft which will move the wind drag forward. Adding ballast aft or moving the paddler aft will raise the front keel, lower the aft keel, raise the front deck and lower the aft deck, all help move the two centroids toward each other. Putting a sail on the rear deck (rudder in the up position) will make weather cocking worse. Putting the rudder in the water or adding a skeg will help. So adding a rudder will further guaranty you will need to use it in a crosswind.

Forward motion moves the center of drag back which is supposed to help but I can’t notice it in my kayak. And of course, if you slow down those hydraulic forces decrease, so don't stop paddling. I prefer adjusting the cg location the kayak over paddling like a mad man.

Adding or removing keel or deck, including rudders and skegs, are not easy on a finished kayak. So I would first move the paddler back and go paddling. If additional trim is needed then add aft ballast. If you start lee cocking you have moved too much weight aft.

One more opinion from a NONmarine-architect.

: Really, a retractable skeg is a useful thing - but not for going in a
: straight line - that depends on learning a (quite small amount of)
: technique. Try paddling a highly rockered whitewater slalom canoe on
: flat water to start to get the feel of counteracting a turn before
: it even becomes visible. After that, any sea kayak will feel to be
: stuck on a tramline !

: What a skeg is really useful for is compensating for the effects of
: wind and trim. A well-trimmed kayak (ie. one where the gear fore and
: aft is nicely balanced) will tend to turn up to face the wind. The
: stern is more prone to be pushed round by the wind than the bows.
: If you want to go upwind, this is just fine. If you want to go down
: wind or across the wind, it can be frustrating, as you constantly
: need to correct. But by lowering the skeg, the sterns resistance to
: sideways movement in the water is increased. The same kayak with the skeg
: fully dropped will tend to turn downwind, as the bow is now more easily
: drifted round than the stern. To go across the wind, there will always
: be a position for the skeg where the effects balance out and your kayak
: will go just the direction you want. Having the skeg leaves you free
: to use the paddles or a certain amount of lean to make *changes* in
: direction, just as you would if there were no wind. If you don't have
: a skeg, you can achieve the same effect by loading heavier gear in the
: aft hatch - but this is difficult to change at sea, so a skeg is more
: useful if your desired direction to the wind will change during your
: journey - as it usually will unless you are making some huge long
: crossing :-)

: But remember, anything with moving parts is vulnerable to failure, so
: learn to use your kayak without the skeg or rudder, even in wind and
: waves - think of the skeg as a way to save a bit of effort and
: concentration rather than as the only way to keep in the right
: direction to get home !

: Andy