Stability

Stability in kayaks (or any vessel) is complex.

Two aspects of stability are

1. Primary stability
2. Secondary stability

The stability of your kayak is affected by a number of things.

• Keep the center of gravity low. If you want to see what happens by increasing the center of gravity, try paddling the kayak while sitting on the back deck. See Load distribution.
• Keep water out of the kayak. If you get water in the cockpit, free-surface effects will cause the kayak's stability to be considerably reduced. The degree to which stability is reduced is dependent on how much water is in the cockpit, but once you get too much, adding water won't make it worse - you have already lost most of the stability. In fact, with significant amounts of water in the cockpit, the stability comes from the dry storage compartments fore and aft. If you take on water when launching or from any other event, you should take the time to pump out the cockpit.