I have a 15 foot Pelican Canoe and I was
wondering about stability. I took it out with my son recently to run
some tests to increase stability of the canoe.
With two people in the canoe its is best to use as suggested with the heavier person in the rear.
When
one person is in the canoe it is better to turn it around ( paddler
sitting in the front of the canoe but facing towards the rear and
paddling in that direction.
That moves the center of gravity forward making the canoe more stable 20% or more depending upon the weight of the paddler.
It seems to work because there is a foot difference in the seating between the front and rear seats.
Attached is a link which I found that might be helpful. Increasing x p
will move the center of mass to the right.
http://employees.csbsju.edu/cgearhart/Courses/Physics191/lecture/CM_example.pdf
