: I asked this on a boat design forum and got some responses but none really
: explaines what happens. Wonder if any of the designers here can really
: explain this. When a kayak is in motion it gains stability, anyone that's
: paddled a skinny kayak knows this, they are much more stable once moving
: than they are sitting at rest. Trying to figure out why this is, is the
: question. Actually looking at the water around the kayak at speed, wave at
: the bow, hollow under the middle and wave at the stern it should be less
: stable, but it isn't.

: Bill H.

The way I think of it is to remember that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. As the kayak pushes forward through the water the water pushes back. Also, the water pushing back on the forward sections of the hull is pretty well "organized" in laminar flow, resulting in a steady reactionary force acting perpendicular to the hull. Of course, the aft sections are in a more turbulent/disorganized regime but when the boat is at rest this applies to the entire hull so the gain in "organized pressure" on the fore sections while moving is a significant difference/improvement.

I'm not an engineer, but that's my intuitive take on the question for whatever it's worth.

BTW, first post for this long time lurker.