I know it must be natural to think about that as a designer, Nick. As purely an amateur builder, I tend to forget about the designer's interest and consider only the construction end of things. Thanks for the timely reminder - you are absolutely right.

: It is not a stupid question, but the most ethical way to get the deck you
: want would be to take a sawzall to the boat you have, remove the deck and
: put on your own. Either that or contact the manufacturer to see if they
: will sell you just the hull. The designer put a lot of work into creating
: the hull shape, if you like it that well, you should give his work the
: respect it is due and buy what you want from him. It is the fair and
: honorable thing to do.