Quote: "Only reservation is that the pilot's at the back and has his view obstructed by the person at the front."
I remember when my daughter and I first paddled together in an open canoe, after many years of each paddling our own individual kayaks, there was a similar situation. In an open canoe, the person in the back does the steering, whilst their view ahead is completely obscured by the bow paddler, who in turn is wondering why the pillock in the back can't see the blinking great rock / log / sandbank that they are heading straight towards.....
Happy days!