Here's my experiwence with my SOF. It's basically built per Cunningham, 12 oz nylon skin from Dyson, and Zar varnish. I launched her in 2005.

The first year, I tried to baby her, thinking she was a fragile boat. The new boat smell wore off by year 2, so I was a bit less careful. No damage. Last year I was at normal cruising speed & high centered my boat on broken concrete hiding just below the surface. I put a few minor scratches in the varnish, no mark in the nylon. I hit HARD & came to a grinding halt as my boat was lifted almost clear of the water. Wow! It's been almost a year & I still have not repaired the damage by simply slapping on another coat of varnish.

Last year my dad re-built the bow of his skin boat to give her a bit more reserve bouancy. Before we cut the skin off, we had some fun. We started by hitting the bottom with a 1/4 wide, flat screw driver and nothing happened. No mark- nothing. We hit harder- chipped the varnish. When hit as hard as I possibly could, the screwdirver did puncture the skin. I then tried to enlarge the hole- by sitting on the ground, bracing my feet against the side of the boat, & pulling the screwdriver sideways. I could not enlarge the hole. Then I tried my knife. With considerable force, I was able to puncture the skin. I was not able to enlarge the hole or to pull the knife sideways unless I used a sawing motion. I'm askeerd of my knife. Sharp!

A plastic boat might take that kind of abuse, but a glass boat would die. I have no worries at all about my "wimpy" skin boat. I have done no maintenence on this boat yet- I do owe her a coat of varnish!

My 2 cents - Build the boat. Paddle the boat. Don't worry.

Have fun

ChuckS