I can feel the hull of my Pygmy Arctic Tern flex when I scrape it over something. I once accidentally parked myself on top of a barely-submerged tree stump, and could feel the hull flex all the way from my feet to my butt as I slid across it. This flexing is good -- it distributes the force over a larger area. I would recommend against making your canoe stiffer. I've paddled a number of aluminum canoes, then bought myself a plastic (Royalex) Mad River canoe. When I hit rocks with it, the hull flexes a lot and survives the impact much better than a stiffer hull.

I'm tempted to make my next kayak a stitch-n-glue with 3mm ply and a couple layers of 3.2oz inside and out.

Dean

: I will be building a double paddle canoe of my own design in the near
: future, and I would like it to be as light as possible consistent with
: reasonable strength. This version will be sort of stitch & glue but
: built over station molds. It is a shallow V with eight panels (four per
: side) and the angles should help stiffen the boat. Four mm ply and 4 oz.
: glass would produce a light boat, but I am not sure I am comfortable with
: that combination. Now the question: what is the weight-strength tradeoff
: between using 4mm ply and 6 oz. cloth vs. 6mm ply and 4 oz. cloth? Are
: there other combinations that would be better, i.e., extra layer of glass
: on hull bottom?

: Thanks for your help.

: Chris Luneski