So I wouldn't be writing this blog if the answer was as simple as "how wide it is", even though this is undoubtedly an important factor it's definitely not the only one. I coach a lot of people who rate their ability based on the width of ski they can paddle. They're comfortable in a 49cm wide ski and a 43cm ski is far too unstable for them to even try. So lets first discuss what this even means in reality and then we will get into why its a flawed system of measuring stability.
Your 49cm wide ski like the ever popular V9 is a measurement of the single widest point of the ski. Usually just on or behind the seat. It gives no indication of the width of the other 5.79 meters of the ski and it doesn't even tell you if that widest point is low enough on the ski to touch the water and offer any stability at all. Put a lightweight paddler in a high volume ski and the width of the ski that is actually wet will be a much smaller measurement than a heavy paddler.
In almost every ski the widest point is where the hull joins the deck and this is almost always above the water. Which is a good thing but give yourself some kudos because in reality 99% of paddlers are paddling a ski narrower than they think.
Now can we imagine (even though it would be terrible to paddle), a ski that was 49cm wide for the entire 5.8meters. Without worrying about the extra volume it would be a whole lot more stable. This is important to realise because so many skis hold width for different lengths making two skis that have the same maximum width different stability levels.
Leaving width behind we've already touched on volume but the principle here is simple. Too much volume is generally going to make you sit higher in the water. Raising your centre of gravity, not letting you sink enough of the hull into the water and making you feel like a cork bobbing around in the water rather than sitting in the water.
Similar to this is the length and manoeuvrability of the ski. More ski is more ski to control and without getting into the weeds on manoeuvrability, if it doesn't go where you are trying to point it, the ski feels out of control and unstable. A shorter ski will often fit better in smaller runners, have less windage in a cross wind and turn faster than a longer ski. This leaves you feeling more in control and more stable as a by-product.
This blog is really just a whole lot of words to say it's not just as simple as how wide the ski is and we haven't even touched on the mental aspect of balance which in my opinion is the most important as none of the skis fall over by themselves!
So better than reading reviews and stats and measurements. If you're in the market for a new ski, try a few, talk to some people that know and try and steer clear of the salesmen and women selling you "the faster and most stable ski ever"
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