Scott,
We were actually looking at the "Yare" design in "The Kayak Shop" and what you said about the difficulty in shaping the round bottom makes sense. Being a first time deal, the hard-chined would probably be easier. I also think the boys would prefer the extra comfort of the additional volume. The boys in this group vary a great deal in size and weight, and a couple of them might have difficulty getting into a boat with a shallow design. Thanks for the advice.

: 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.