Hi Pete,

I sorry to say that I have not paddled either of the two enough to make a good comparison. I am very happy with both of them so far! I figure that the 18' does track a little stronger than the 17' both because of length and weight. I paddled on a very windy day Sunday and observed no weather cocking. The boat paddles just as Nick describes, I find it's secondary stability Great! You can really lean over and turn nicely. I have not tried rolls yet. I'm Not crazy it's to cold for that still! As far as my modification I kept the bow and stern identical no change in spacing 1/2, 1 and 2 I left same for the stern 15, 16 and 16-1/2. I spaced the rest of the forms evenly to make up the difference for 18'. When I finish I did a little tweaking to make sure everything was fare. I hope this helps! either way Nicks boats are beautiful!