Stable plasmas with surface elongations of up to 1.8 (aspect ratio ≅ 3.4) have been produced in the upper lobe of Doublet III with the use of both passive and active controls. The growth rate of the vertical instability has been measured at various values of elongation by disabling the feedback circuit of the vertical position control power supply. A rigid-shift analysis of growth rates indicates that the passive stabilization effect of the field-shaping coils plays a key role in achieving a high elongation of 1.8. Experiments have demonstrated that the maximum stable elongation is determined by the strength of the passive stabilization effect even with active feedback control. The dee-shape is found to be preferable to an elliptical shape because the triangularity reduces the absolute value of the decay index required to produce a given elongation.