Strip building is strip building, so you shouldn't have to worry too much the technique of the project. There are a few books and a recent article in Wooden Boat about clampless building that would be helpful. (As well as a Nick Schade strip canoe building series.)

Instead of redesigning, maybe you should think about a different design if you want a round-bottomed boat. The book Fifty Wooden Boats published by Wooden Boat has a few different shells, including Uffa Fox's "Best Boat." He was experimenting with trying to make a boat that could plane under humanly possible effort. The interesting part is that he designed both a round-bottom and hard-chined version of the boat, and it didn't increase the speed in either version. The book also has designs for several other shells. Once you find the boat you want, full-size plans are available through the Wooden Boat Store (except the Uffa Fox boats, which are available from the Uffa Fox folks). If you want a performance rowing boat that's not a shell, check out the book "Rip, Strip, Row" by J. D. Brown on building a Cosine Wherry. It's a very cool boat.

There was also an interesting article in a recent issue of Wooden Boat about steam-bending super-thin pieces of WRC for retro hulls. Probably not possible for a one-off boat, but a cool bit of history. There's a vintage double shell hanging from the ceiling of a local nautical-theme restaurant that's planked with edge-glued 1 1/2" wide planks that are backed out on the inside. It's like carvel planking, but without the caulking. I'm sure strip-planking would be lighter.

I put a link to a discussion of the Uffa Fox plans/design on the Wooden Boat forum.

m

: I want to build a strip planked single rowing shell. I can't find any plans
: or books for such a project so I turn to you with a few questions: 1.
: Would you think this project is more like a kayak or a canoe?
: What book would be most helpful?

: 2. I have found plans for a hard chine plywood shell at Chesapeake Light
: Craft. Could anyone suggest a method of converting a hard chine design to
: round bottom? Is it worth the trouble to do that?

: Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

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