Paddle2fitness/Julian?

I've really enjoyed and learned a lot from Julian's Paddle2fitness vids on youtube but the vid on butt-pads I'm not too sure about. Today I experimented with up to five, 10mm but-pads and there is no question that elevating your butt above your heels is a more powerful and a more comfortable position but stability does suffer a lot for me at least.
Your thoughts?

On the weekend I paddled my Plastic Finn Molokai Ski in a 22km river race with a 6km white water section.

I bought this ski to do this race because

1. Being plastic it is very durable in rapids
2. It is the fastest plastic craft around
3. The Mark II model is quite stable

The very first model was known to be unstable, so the factory redesigned it and together with a whole lot of other improvements lowered the seat. It made a huge difference.

So I came up with a best of both worlds solution for this ski for the race, I made up a 3cm thick butt pad of foam, attached a tether to it and placed it under my knees for the first 6km of white water. When the more technical parts of the race were done I leaned back lifting my butt up, slipped the pad under and away I went, that 3cm gave me a much more comfortable position and powerful stroke.

I have experimented with butt pads for this and find that for marathon racing (flat water) it is a great idea, but I leave it out for ocean racing where I really need to feel connected to the ski and probably suffer a little more balance wise.

I like the idea of using small increments of lift, for example 1-2cm in a stable ski to get you used to handling instability before moving up to a more unstable ski.