The finished kayaks pictured on the GTwoodworks site are either my designs or directly derived from my designs. I can not comment on whether one of their custom designs would be any better than anyone else's stock designs.

I think you will find most of the designers offering kayak plans will provide customized designs if desired. If you have some special need, such as you are 6' 6" but only weight 120 lbs, you might benefit from a custom design. If you fall in the normal range of body sizes, you probably won't find much difference between a stock design and a custom one.

If you are at the top level of some aspect of the sport, such as a racer who consistently finishes in the top 3, then the incremental improvement possible due to a custom design might be enough to push you to more wins. But more hours spent at the gym are a better bet. Skilled rollers will also notice the difference in a perfectly fitted boat. Your average paddler will probably not notice the difference. It will not make the difference between being able to roll and not being able to. A custom fitted design has the potential to be better, but it is not a guarrantee. A customized version of one design may not be as close to what you want as a stock version of another design.

: Thanks for the input PGJ. I was going to build a Guillemot, but now I found a
: website, at www.gtboatworks.com that will custom design a boat just for
: me with all the features I want in terms of stability, etc. and it is only
: $99.95 and takes 3 weeks. All he needs is height, weight, inseams, and
: obviously the features.

: Have you or anyone you know of used this service before? Do the custom boats
: really turn out better than the cookie-cutter type plans you can get
: through guillemot, redfish, CLC, etc? Anyway, again thanks for your help!

: The Link is below for anyone interested in a personal set of plans