Chris - I assume that by "round bottom" you mean a compounded hull like the CLC Yare, not a multi-chinned hull. I built a K158 (round bottom) by Heritage Wooden Boats 2 yrs ago and am now completing a CLC LT17 (hard chinned). The K158 was cheap (used luan plywood), quick to build, good looking and fast. It has low initial stability, good secondary stability, low volume (little storage space) and very poor foot room. It also has a very wet ride in a chop (I'm the first one in the group to put on my spray skirt). It was very difficult as a first project to bend the plywood into the required shape. I had several helpers and we still had to fight it. The round bottoms are sometimes referred to as "tortured plywood" boats. Maybe they should be called "tortured builder" boats.

There is an Explorer scout post near me that has built 4 Yares so it can be done. However, having worked with older scouts myself, I think that the hard chine designs would be easier to build and carry more camping gear and therefore a better choice.