Seat Height and Stability

[chuck naill]

Just curious about what you think the relationship is between seat height and stability.

[GSG]

They're directly linked. Even half an inch can make a big difference. I go as low as I can well remaining reasonably comfortable. There's no easier way to increase your confidence in a boat that you feel squirrelly in then lowering the saddle, imo.

[milkman]

A lower center of gravity definitely helps stability, but there is a point for open canoes when you can set a seat too low for good leverage on your strokes. Most of the time I see people err on the side of too high of a seat, but occasionally you'll see someone who has gone too low.

[GSG]

For sure. I tried my saddle down around 4.5" and definitely noticed a loss of reach and power. 5.5" seems to be my happy comprise, all things considered.

[JimW]

Makes a huge difference to the initial feel of a sea kayak, so is bound to make a difference in a canoe too.

But as mentioned in the other stability thread, the initial feel of good stability is not always what you actually need.... and as mentioned already for a saddle it will affect your reach and comfort.

You are more free to move your CG around in a canoe than you are in a kayak - I'd guess that in a low recovery with your head on the airbag in front of you the saddle height will make virtually no difference to your actual CG at that moment, or the outcome of the recovery....

[ezwater]

Also depends on how and where you are locked into the boat at various points of contact.

A poler has a pretty high seat, but there's something about the poler-pole-boat interface that adds a lot of stability.

[KNeal]

Adding to what EZ said about points of contact, I have felt the most secure in a c-1 with a kneeling thwart at a height of 6 1/2 inches and my knees are pretty close together too.

[ezwater]

Yes, a c-1 can force the lower legs into parallel orientation because of low hull width. This may be more true if the hull is not just narrow, but "tubular". A wider, flatter hull bottom allows more range of leg disposition.

Yet in fact, c-1s, with their low seating position and their multiple points of contact, often work very well with as low a seat as you can tolerate.

OC-1s of course may allow much higher seats, and that's fine if the hull design is very stable. I have about a 10" seat height in my Millbrook "Big Boy" ("Edsel") but the hull is very stable and predictable, so seat height is OK and just gives me extra leverage.