I bought a used Huki S1-X 3 years ago as my first boat beyond a plastic sea kayak. Paddled mostly inland waters for the first year and despite rarely swimming, still felt uneasy with beam boat and wind chop. The second season felt much the same but noticed at the end of season that I could paddle the boat with my eyes closed in calm waters - something I couldn't come close to doing a year earlier. Now at age 53 and the end of the third season with the boat, I have no real issue with the stability, even when paddling in beam conditions in open water. Racing in beam conditions forces me to drop my paddle angle some in order to maintain speed and stability, but that seems acceptable to me.
If I were to offer advice, I would say to get out and practice regularly in challenging conditions - really seemed to help my learning curve once I was relatively comfortable in calm water. I haven't spent enough time in comparable newer boats to address the relative stability of the S1-X, but I can say that the speed of the boat still seems competitive to the point that I can't justify making a change at this point. That said, I've advised others looking to get into the sport to consider a boat that is more stable in order to prevent them from experiencing any potential disappointment with their progress in the sport.
