Hmm...

interesting question...

to have more directional stability, the center of pressure needs to be further behind the center of thrust.

the center of thrust is your shoulders/butt.

the center of pressure is somewhere around the widest point of the boat, & I emphasize SOMEWHERE AROUND, & not exactly there.

& I didn't mentioned the c.g. yet.

according to this, you should move the seat forward, but:

the c.g. affects the center of pressure, but I don't know how & I don't know if more or less in relative the shifting of the seat backward/forward. I believe it depends on a specific boat. & this could change the conclusion to moving the seat backward because it will affect the center of pressure more than it will affect the center of thrust.

complicated but interesting ! 8-)

perhaps you can find some stuff about it in the design board on this website (I've never been there).

easy solution - install a little fixed skeg somewhere towards the stern, it will move the center of pressure a little backward & will give plenty of lateral resistant.

by "little skeg" I mean something with less surface than the palm of your hand (or should I say "the face of your hand" ? ), & make it more long & less deep so you wont bump into stuff under the water, since it's fixed.

hey this is interesting stuff, let me know what you did & if it helped, my email is: FL_PELICAN@HOTMAIL.COM

how bout somebody who designs kayaks for living ? he might know. his name could be............Nick ....?

hey Nick, is this crap, or could it be that I'm actually right ?!\

Erez