: I tend to agree with Jay. Many regular SOF qajaqs aren't that light. I think
: there are opportunities for saving weight by using composites in place of
: heavier solid wood but most builers seem to favor fairly traditional
: methods. My SOF project is still just a stack of wood by the plan is to
: lighten the wood structure and then reinforce it with glass. I have no
: idea how much it will weigh but I'm shooting for the 30-35lbs range.

I disagree. A traditional Greenlandic SOF certainly does not need to be heavy. Perhaps they are too often "overbuilt" in this country. In Greenland I'd guess that the average kayaks that I have used weighed about 30 pounds. Light weight is a necessary feature as they are expected to be carried on your head for long distances, and portaging is required for some of the races.

Harvey Golden has made replicas using synthetic skins that weight 28 pounds or perhaps less. When asked on the Greenland forum about how he keeps the weight of his kayaks down he replied "The weight of my kayaks is kept low through using spruce or cypress longitudinals, 9-8oz. fabrics, original scantlings (such as gunwales often as thin as 1/2", but usually 5/8"), and last but not least, building many kayaks under 17" of width." In contrast, Cunningham's book recommends gunwales that are 7/8" thick, much thicker (and heavier) than what is typically used in Greenland.

Greg Stamer