Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
Peter typed:

[snip]

The small sailing dinghies I've used are only a little harder, but
they all had flotation installed under the seats on the sides of the
cockpit which acted as internal sponsons when swamped.


Whoa, please, Peter! You completely turn the discussion around, and
make it meaningless, when you use language this carelessly.

I don't think it's careless at all. My "Standard College Dictionary" gives
as the third definition of sponson "An air tank built into the sides of a
canoe to improve stability and prevent sinking." The air tanks under the
seats of the dinghies I sailed were "built into the sides of those boats to
improve stability and prevent sinking" and on that basis I asserted that
they acted as internal sponsons.

There can
be NO SUCH THING as an "internal sponson".

That doesn't seem to be the view of my dictionary, nor is it the view of
Klepper, Folbot, or Feathercraft, which all refer to the air chambers
located inside the hulls of their boats as sponsons.