I have paddled solo in the wind quite a bit in the past. The two boats I paddled most in the wind were the Bell Magic and the Wenonah Advantage. I usually paddled them unloaded but occasionally with a load for a multi day trip. I never had a problem maintaining any course with them in winds up to about 20-25 mph. Of course it required some heeling/edging and paddling on one side but it was very manageable. The Advantage had a sliding seat but I never used. it.

I am buying a Wenona Voyager but I don’t have it yet. Many people comment on it being very hard to handle in the wind. I can understand that to some extent due to its high freeboard. It is quire long at 17 feet so this will give the wind more surface area to affect the course of the canoe, but on the other hand it will also give the canoe more directional stability so I am unsure about how the longer length will affect the handing in the wind.

So here is my quesion: Given that the boat has a sliding seat, how could it be difficult to find a means to maintain a straight course in your chosen direction in a high wind? I never felt the need for a sliding seat in the past, but if you can slide the seat back and therefore put more weight on the stern it will allow you to prevent the stern from blowing downwind. At some point you should be able to find a point of relative equilibrium where the boat tracks fairly easily on the course you want relative to the wind. This would be like using a skeg on a kayak.

If my thoughts regarding the sliding seat are correct then I don’t really understand why people would say that a boat is too hard to handle in the wind when they have the ability to move the seat and affect the handling. Again though, I am speaking theoretically since I have not used a sliding seat in the past (despite having owned boats that had them).

thanks
Matt