: Kevin, I find that my Sea Rider has more primary stability than
: many SOF kayaks I've paddled. Secondary stability, if you put
: your weight on one butt cheek, it settles right there like it
: wants to stay there. Adding more opposite knee, I can crank it
: over pretty far, and pretty reliably, before feeling like it's
: going over to capsize. I think, when edged reasonably
: aggressively, that it firms up much more than my Perception
: Shadow, which has a bit of a v bottom and rounded chines. In
: fact, I'd say that the Sea Rider is more stable over all than
: many SOFs I've paddled. Some SOFs, and even I remember the Pin
: Tail, I was immediately throwing out a paddle for a brace, until
: I got some forward movement going, and the boat settled down.
: None of that with my Sea Rider.

: I can also tell you that the Sea Rider (at least mine) is quite
: responsive to edging for course correction. I find that unless
: it is very windy, I seldom need to use sweeps for corrective
: strokes, because I think about going in a direction, and the
: boat seems to go that way telepathically. I find that it tracks
: quite straight - in fact I wish it had more rocker for surfing.
: When I edge my Shadow aggressively, the stern will slide out to
: the opposite side of the edging very well, a function of the
: soft chines. But the Sea Rider will not slide out, and because
: the sheer is kinda flat, going to a hard edge won't turn in the
: direction of the edge well either - some SOFs with more sheer
: curvature will turn well towards the direction you edge, because
: the gunwale digs in and then follows that curve to turn.

: Hope this helps.

: Brian

Btw, for the first time in one of these boats, it's not a bad idea to find some shallow water and lean the boat while bracing on the bottom to see just how far you can lean before it loses stability. On all of Tom's boats I've paddled so far, the secondary stability is just amazing, once you find out how far you can lean you can just relax without worry about stability and paddle :)

Bill H.