this past weekend the 14th March I paddled around one of our Islands here in south Puget Sound with some friends, we had incredible following seas a dream come true for surfing, that is if your kayak behaves in following seas! My paddling friends all paddled NDK Explorers and they dusted me, BAD! I paddle one of P+H's new boats, the CETUS. Lots of rocker swede form with a Foil/Skeg that is flimsy at best, I believe this is the cause of problems with all the broaching, stalling . Am I missing something? I've been paddling sea boats for nearly thirty years and consider following seas one of my strengths. The CETUS has a lot of rocker, turns on a dime, I mean you think turn and this boat does a 180. Any suggestions for directional control?

I read somewhere that adding a little weight in the stern compartment might help. Or was it the front?

How big were the waves?

You did have your skeg all the way down? I haven't had the opportunity to paddle the Cetus but like magooch said in his post if using full skeg wasn't keeping you turned downwind moving weight aft should also help.

the waves were 2-3 foot rollers, should have been a lot of fun, and I did place weight in the day hatch

yeah, the skeg was all the way down and all weighted items were behind me, I'm pretty disapointed in this boat when it is paddled in following seas.

What is a "roller?" Do you mean a breaking wave, or a swell?

I don't blame you a bit for being disappointed with the boat if 2 to 3 footers are a problem. That would make real waves downright undoable. It sounds like the skeg might be the real problem and if it is one of those little high aspect thingies--I've wondered just how effective they would be when you really need them. Maybe a regular skeg could be fitted to the boat without much difficulty.

I have a CD Sirocco that really does a nice job in waves. I haven't had my new boat in very big waves yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing if it does as well as the Sirocco. It is a bit longer and lighter and specializes in going straight, but I'm going to take it slow and careful until I see how it is going to handle. It has no skeg, nor rudder.

This may sound a little strage, but my recreation kayak is a great surfing boat. I surfed it on a very large, steep tugboat wave one time and I couldn't believe how well it did. The boat gets all the credit though, because I was basically out of control. I meant to surf down the wave, but got turned a little and went diagonally down the wave in the direction the tug was traveling. The boat stayed on the wave for a long ways--just like a surf board and it was really flying. I actually was catching up with the tug. There's a little more to the story, but the point is that I wish I were good enough to do that sort of thing on purpose.

Hey magooch ( ??? )I thinks it is the flimsy skeg coupled with a swedeform ( fat ass ) hull, Next windy day I'll weigh down the stern with a bag of water.

Did you read the review that was right below yours on Paddling Net? The fellow who wrote it was also complaining about the boat wanting to turn off the wave. He thinks it is because the cockpit is too far forward, so putting weight in the back of the boat might do the trick.

I don't think the Swede form in itself is the problem, because my Sirocco is also Swede form and it does an excellent job of surfing. I generally have the skeg all the way down, though.

Have you resolved the issue with the Cetus

I am considering buying one myself.

A comment I read from one of the testers in Ocean Paddler (UK) was that on a following sea it responds very quickly to an edge and that you had to be mindful of this.

Cheers

Bill

Explorers are known for being fast, hard-tracking expedition boats, so I'm not really surprised that they were quicker. When I'm getting pushed around a bit, I like to go with a shorter paddle to aid the tracking.

SORT OF??? P+H IS SENDING ME THEIR NEW GLASS REINFORCED SKEG FOR THE CETUS PLUS I AM PUTTING ALL OF MY GEAR TOWARDS THE BACK.
THE BOAT REQUIRES AGGRESSIVE EDGING WITH A STERN RUDDER.