: Being rigid I wonder how it will take over time to the normal stresses a
: kayak goes through. Keep us posted on it's durability. I can see building
: one of those to play with.

Ted,
I've a friend who introduced me to this whole ultralight approach of Platt Montfort's by way of a Wee Lassie type canoe. He's had it for 12 years and it's holding up great. Only now in need of a new coat of varnish. It weighs 11 lbs. He also thinks I overbuilt the kayak.

No reason why it wouldn't handle bigger water/waves. Would require float bags.
I differed from Montfort's approach by using and inner and outer stringer throughout the construction. So, each stringer pretty much becomes as rigid as a gunwale. It could be a devil to repair if you were doing a lot of surf landings and broke a couple of glue joints...maybe not.

The dacron shrinks very well and only seems to be susceptible to sharp cutting objects. We've paddled over rocks and limbs with no problem.

I'm thinking of building a baidarka (Firestar) as one of these ultralight SOF's.

As far as difficulty, I was designing as I went and still don't think I put in a solid 80 hours. It really went together quick, especially because the ribs are just 1/16" veneer laminations.

It's easy to put in and retrieve gear because there's internal stringers over all of the ribs.

None of us have taken it on any overnight trips, just day paddling.

Jim