I'm one who started with a stitch and glue (Chesapeake 17) and am now building a stripper (Guillemot). In both cases I worked/work evenings - a couple hours most nights - and a longer stretch most weekends - 4 or 5 hours, usually either Saturday or Sunday, but not both.

The Chesapeake was done in 3 months. I didn't have the skills and confidence I do now, or it would have been done sooner. I've been working on the Guillemot for about 7 months now, and still probably have a couple of months to go. Time may not be a problem for you, but from my point of view, the stripper is taking an awful long time.

The Chesapeake is a really nice boat; I have no complaints. Actually, I love it.

I think the Guillemot is going to be nicer, aesthetically speaking. The curvy shapes, and the look of the strips are beautiful. It should be better handling in heavy water, and roll easier, based on what I've been able to gather. I don't think it will track as well, however.

My opinion: The best first boat for getting done in a reasonable amount of time without being overly difficult - a stitch and glue. The best boat if you have tons of patience, both to learn more challenging woodworking and to just plain put in the hours, and if you want a shapely, sleek, beautiful boat - a stripper.

Either way, you're going to end up with a beautiful boat that turns heads (and gets you into bazillions of conversations - "Did you build that? Wow!"), and the satisfaction of knowing that, "Yeah, I built that!"