Thanks for all of the answers. The book I'm speaking of is Wolfgang Brinck's "The Aleutian Kayak", as far as I can tell it's widely available (amazon.com, etc.) I have looked at David Zimmerley's web page (www.arctickayaks.com)and I'll certainly look into getting a copy of his article.

Of course only part of my concern is the price (but as a college student it isn't insignificant). I really like the looks of the Aleutian kayak and of course the light weight is attractive.

So how does the boat paddle? And how does it differ from more modern designs in terms of performance? What advantages would a more modern (or perhaps West Greenland) design have over it and vice-versa?