: 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.

Being an Aircraft Mechanic by trade I can add a bit of science to the equation; The kayak is basically a wedge and as that wedge move through the water it compresses the water around it. the faster the kayak moves the more the water is compressed. It's this compressed water that is actually balancing or stabilizing the hull by adding equal pressure on each side. Think of an arrow or the old pointy paper airplane, these are much more stable in the air the faster they fly. A faster jet will have narrower more wedge shaped wings for speed but would stall (become unstable) at too slow a speed.