Mark, Ive built two stich and glues now. I think it's true that not only does the stiffness affect the final shape but also the sheer clamp. On my first one it is a little off in one spot due to unfair bottom panels (it has a hump..) On my current one I was very careful to make fair panels and it's quite a bit better. One little low that I fixed most of. I'll look at it when glassing the bottom and decide wether or not to fill. On this boat I laminated the sheer clamps, and they are not quite symmetrical. If I do another S&G I'll use a solid sheer clamp. I think like anything else it takes practice and experience. I suspect that the kits are coming out more fair. In summary; use the same sheet for (sides) and (bottom) and not worry about stiffness differences. Be VERY careful stiching together (Chris nicely understates this in his book) and you should come out with a fair hull. I think it is a good way to go, faster and easier than strip although not as pretty.

> I just returned from the bathroom, where I read: (from Chris
> Kulczyki's book)

> Always stack left and right side panels and shape them together
> to assure that all the panels on the right side will be EXACT mirror
> images of the panels on the left side. If there is ANY difference
> between the panels from one side compared to the other it will most
> likely manifest itself as a crooked boat.

> I'd be interested to know whether the crooked boats we are hearing
> about were built with extreme attention to panel symmetry.