I am building a Guillemot Exp. as my first kayak project and am 85% completed. The skills that you need to build it are no different than any other strip built kayak. If you are concerered about the time it takes to build a striper, a stich and glue design will take less hours and can be easier. I also bought a kit so that I didn't have to loft the forms or mill the strips.

The key skills that I needed came not from carpentry experience but from reading books, reading this BB, and a little practice.

Key skills

1. Attention to alignment details when setting up the forms. Mostly a matter of patience and taking your time to do it right.

2. Ability to use a block plane to scarf and fit strips at an angle. I did the hull first so I could practice where it would be less seen but it is not a skill that takes years to aquire. The cuurves at the bow and stern which give the Gillemot it's beautiful line can be dificult to bend but cheater strips make it easy.

3. Fiberglassing - most of what you need can be learned from reading

As for the model, I chose the Exp. Single because I am tall 6'3" and large 230lbs (don't have my metric conversion )

If you have the hours to devote to the project I wouldn't worry about lack of skills.
>

Hello everybody!

> I am a 48 years old male from Norway planning to build a kayak for the
> first time. Not skilled in carpentry, I am a pure amateur. After I got
> hold of the drawings for the Guillemot single, however I got second
> thoughts. The kayak seems too small for my size. 1,68 cm tall, my weight
> is 104kg.

> This week I visited Wermlandia Kanots in Sweden. They didn't recommend
> building the Guillemot as my first project as they find the kayak too
> difficult to build.

> Anyone out there willing to give me advise.....

> H.J