Hi Brian - I built an Adirondack guide boat about a year and a half ago. It is based on the Virginia, designed in 1905, and detailed in "The Adirondack Guide Boat" by Kenneth Durant. The book describes the original construction techniques of using spruce stumps to cut ribs, and pine planking held on with clinched tacks and screws. Mine has no ribs, and is built from cedar strips with fiberglass inside and out. It weighs around 80 pounds, but I probably could have cut that down to around 70 during construction. Its performance is outstanding, being very fast, quiet, and very maneuverable. The only negative is you can't see where you are going, like in a canoe or kayak. Cast brass hardware and original design oars are available.

I have since cut a set of rib templates, and someday hope to build another one, but with full ribs cedar stripped and fiberglassed only on the outside.

Hope this helps in your decision. -- John