hi dan, you'll have no problem making something lighter than the Eclipse. The subject,size,weight,intended use will help get you a usefull answer. I don't think there's a growing into design. There's tippy,long,skinny,hard/easy to turn,etc. The Arctic Tern would be a good choice if you wanted another high volume boat that is a lot easier to turn. You'd be surprised at how useless a width dimension is in interpreting how a boat handles. I built a Coho and although it also is a 23" boat with LOTS of lean over comfort(secondary stability) it is also much more manueverable than the Eclipse. The north bay is a different fish altogether,tippier,fast,if you paddle it fast, and about the same manueverability as the eclipse if memory serves me (big assumption,it's been 6mo since I paddled an eclipse). If you weighed less than 160 you might consider the clc 16,I'm not sure of the range for the Arctic Tern 14. lots o choices