Aim stitching my first pygmy kayak. I have done it ok I think so now aim putting on the first side panel I aligned it with the bow and now the stern is approx 1/8 " short no matter what I try to do. I can reline the panels so I could sand off 1/16 “at each. end. Can I do this wthout affecting performance?

Does anything believe the instructions from pygmy sucks? I sure do!
Thanks much
Bruce