I built the Ches 18 last year and it came in at 52 lbs. with extra epoxy and all. fter reading some of the posts from Nick and George I knew that I had too much epoxy. This spring I built the Tred Avon with extra glass on the interior for durability and it came in at @ 62 lbs. The boats can all be built close to specs depending on your use of epoxy. As advertised, your experience may vary.... Brian

>

> I dont think it is the epoxy!!! I built the Pygmy "Coho"
> 17' 6". The kit came with 2.25 gal of epoxy. I used about 2.5
> gal to finish the boat. I made several changes that added weight:
> All my fillets were thickened with wood flour and milled fibers (very
> heavy), wider tape was supplemented for the supplied, end pours were
> larger and also made with milled fibers, extra glass was applied in
> stress areas and I filled the weave on the inside. The hull is glassed
> inside and out and the deck is glassed on outside, with fillets and
> tape on inside of deck. I added bulkheads and hatches. one of the
> bulkheads is made of hardwood strips (heavy). The total weight of
> the boat with seat, backband and deck rigging is 42#. The weight before
> bulkheads and hatches was 39# (weighed on a scale that is certified
> by my county weights and measures). 39# is Pygmy's advertised weight.
>

> Pygmy and ClC designs and construction methods are completely
> different and I would not expect the weights to be the same for a
> given lenght boat but, curiously the advertised weights are very similar.
> This bbs is a great place to find out the truth before you build and
> maybe help keep some people honest. The main reason I built a S&G
> kayak was to save weight over my 62# plastic kayak that has an advertised
> weight of 52#. If my boat came in at 56#, I would be very unhappy
> to say the least!!