: OK, I reread chapter eight and realize what I missed.Bending a piece of
: plywood over a finished hull and tracing its shape seems like a pain.

CLC is hardly unique in this process. This is a pretty normal way, and should do a good job. If you wanted, you could do the same to make a plywood deck for a stripped hull, or for a canoe. It works for boats that you don't even have plans for.

The advantages here are that your part will fit perfectly, no need to precut and trim, and you can automatically compensate for any tiny irregularities in the building process.

Working with a larger panel when bending it over the deck beams gives you a bit more leverage, and a place to hold things while you do the bending.

Of course from the point of view of the designer, this means there is one less drawing to make

PGJ