I'm building the Great Auk over the winter-my first wooden boat, hopefully to be followed by more. I chose the Auk for its simplicity in building. However, here in Kentucky, I'll mainly use the kayak for flat water narrow rivers, and I really won't need a 17 foot boat.

I have purchased the plans and Nick's book. I plan to shorten the kayak to 14 feet per the description in the annex to the book, and I have two questions:

1. What effect does shortening have on the end forms, specifically how far past the last form should the end form reach? Do I need to shorten this length from the purchased plans?

2. What effect does shortening have on the size and placement of the cockpit opening?

Thanks for the help.