“It pivots amazingly fast of the pivot point somewhere right under my butt area.”
That’s the first thing I noticed, not on waves, just turning
I keep meaning to compare the Progression and Illusion hull specs to this hull out of curiosity.
Specs with length, width, depth, overall volume are there in the Sterling site. Of course, you would have to convert to metric, or vice versa, to compare with your European kayak.
The actual hull shape and rocker can be more accurately compared through a direct side by side of the two kayaks. To see if you have the similar rocker and pivot area, maybe try this… 
sing
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Yea the conversions are why I haven’t done it yet even with a computer 
I did eyeball the hulls side by side before I bought it. I demoed the Braveheart but not the Sterling.
The Sterling is made an hour from our house back home so I would have liked that one but the Finland (hand laid etc) was about 1/2 the price with the no VAT.
There really isn’t a used market much over here.
I think labor cost on the west coast is probably some of the highest anywhere.
With my boat with me in it and nothing in the hatches, the boat turns broadside to the wind. The good thing is I can easily turn upwind or downwind with no problem. The downside is that being broadside to waves makes it tough to take an on-water break in some conditions. At 18’ with a straight keel it tracks great but take a bit of effort to turn quickly. With a 22" waterline beam, edging only make turning a bit easier and with only moderate primary and secondary stability you have to be careful.
Does that mean soft chines?
My boat does have soft chines or a rounded bottom. This affects edging, but not how the boat responds to crosswinds. Weathercocking or leecocking is generally more dependant on where the center of mass rests and whether the bow or stern resists the effect of a crosswind more. This can differ on whether the bow or stern is deeper in the water, height of foredect vs stern deck, and how much gear is stowed on the deck. Rockered hulls are often more sensitive to the effect of crosswinds as the bow and stern is generally not as deep in the water as hulls that are straight and sacrifice tracking for better maneuverability.
Rudders and skegs are primarily designed to counter crosswinds. Longer boats generally need them more than shorter boats.
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I like the options that the builder has incorporated for seat position. How far did you move it back? Whereever the seat location, take time to go out between 15-20 knots (in a protected cove) if available, and test how the boat helms to the wind when you are paddling. Most folks don’t purposedly go out when forecast is beyond 20 knots. You could be out then on a forecasted 10 knot day, only to find the winds pick up beyond forecasted or because of local land structures that funnel the wind.
If you find the boat is neutral or weathercocks slightly (you can compensate a bit, if needed, with some exposure of the skeg), then you are in the right seat location. If you find yourself leecocking (turning downwind), time to move the seat forward for a notch and try again.
Good luck! I admit an affinity/bias towards LV rockered boats and would love to see how that performs in textured waters.
sing
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I moved it all the way back which is maybe 1.5-2”
I probably won’t have waves here but when we get home to Washington next year we go to Tofino and the San Juan’s quite a bit. It’s an easy ferry ride for us to Van Island and we like the drive and camping our way up.
I’m also very curious about the Oregon coast having been there but not paddled.
Thanks for the information on lee cocking, that would be hard to sort out by myself.
That’s a large change in seat position and, probably, the trim.
I would’ve moved it something like half an inch, paddled it, and kept moving back only if needed. Weathercocking is safer than leecocking.
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