must capsize. Thus if you carry too much canvas in a choppy sea a little lop that a yacht would pay no attention to may lift up the side of the open boat till she attains the danger angle, when the wind pressing on the sail will complete the mischief, and the next moment she will be bottom up. It has been pointed out in a previous chapter that ballast lying in the bottom of a shallow boat does not materially increase her stability, whereas the recovering power of a deep vessel is greater the more she heels over, so that she is practically uncapsizable.
An open boat should carry no more ballast than is absolutely necessary, and what there is should be kept amidships, so that both bow and stern are buoyant and rise successively to the passing seas. Except when an open boat is being raced by an experienced crew, it is highly imprudent to stiffen her by shifting ballast to windward or by making her passengers sit on the weather gunwhale; as a sudden lull or change in the direction of the wind, or the roll caused by a passing beam sea may result in her suddenly capsizing to windward. But under certain circumstances it may be prudent to shift ballast fore or aft. Thus, if one is compelled to run before a dangerously heavy sea, the tendency to broach-to can be diminished by moving some of the ballast aft; on the other hand, when one is pulling against the sea it is often advisable to move the ballast forward, for this gives the boat a better grip
