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It is amazing how close my experience has been to Kocho's [02-10-2009 review].
I'm 190 lbs, 5' 11" with size 11 feet. I also have similar boats to compare it with. I suspect he is right about how body size and shape affects weather cocking. I've had some success with countering weather cocking by shoving 1 to 1.5 gallons of water jugs in the stern as far as they would go.

I agree that a center foot rest is wonderful. I have one on my Current Designs Speedster and have made myself one from foam blocks for my Seda Impulse. Lately comfort and convenience have begun to be more important than speed to me. The Sonoma is my most comfortable boat and it fits on my car and in my garage better than my long boats.

For anything over an hour paddle the Sonoma is within 10% of the speed of any other kayak I've paddled. I normally paddle 4-7 hours per workout and I rarely miss the higher sprint speeds. I do miss the dry ride of my bigger boats some times. I haven't had it out with GPS but I have paddled all my kayaks on the same route that takes about two hours round trip for my fastest boats. I can't paddle the Speedster well enough to make it much faster - though it should be!

I also had the same rolling experience. I can do a butterfly roll with the Sonoma but not a hand roll or static brace. I may improve... I've only had two rolling sessions in it.
I use a longer Greenland style paddle with the Sonoma than I use with my longer, narrower, better tracking kayaks. I need the greater paddle area to counter the tendency to wander. This is especially true when trying to catch waves and stay on them. This may be due to my limited experience with the boat. I've only been on fairly small waves so far and only a few times. It is getting easier to catch rides. The problem is I'm so used to hard tracking boats that I tend to over correct when drifting off line.

The Sonoma is awesome for small, windy, rivers.