I was hoping to post a photo of my boat but not able to right now.

I used 1/2" wide strips for my guillemot and was able to continue bending them to fit almost all the way to where the keel strip meets.

The further up the hull I went the harder it got to bend the strips. I probably could have continued using steam or heat to soften them but chose to put a couple of wedges in to soften the curve.

It seems easier to pick a spot to put a cheater but don't put it in right away, just run your next strip and leave a gap, matching both sides, 1 strip from each leaving the same gap. You can do this several times till you have 2 or 3 gaps then go back and fill them all at the same time. It helps if the gap is narrower than your strip width so 1 cheater works in each gap.

In my opinion, the cheater strip is so easy and virtually invisible in the finished boat that its not worth the trouble to avoid it.

I'll try to post a photo later, some problem with my web provider.

Ben Staley

: I'm just starting to build my first strip boat after completing a s&g CLC 17
: last winter. Its a guillemot single, and I have a quick question about the
: cheater strips that Nick recomends using in his book. I really like the
: curvature of the strips along the sheer line, and was wondering what would
: happen if I just continued stripping without the cheater strips. I would
: guess that the bow and stern would come up to the bottom of the boat at
: different times. I also guess that the strips will become more dificult to
: twist and bend. Are these factors really going to be a problem, or should
: I just stick to the instructions on my first boat!? Any insights would be
: appreciated.
: Thanks,
: Brad