: Paddler comfort in a boat is a relative thing. Regardless of his background,
: he may just be more comfortable in less stable boats than you are. Your
: COG theory is sound, assuming that you actually do have a higher COG than
: he does. However, all else being equal, my experience is that boats become
: more stable as they're pushed deeper into the water, though there could
: certainly be exceptions to that general rule.

But if a big guy pushes a low-volume boat down to the gunwales in the water, there'd be little reserve buoyancy left over, and it should feel tippy, no?