: He used mainly walnut and cherry. He set his
: strip width at 5/32" and used 6 oz glass on the hull and 4 oz on the
: deck (inside & out). One boat came in at 38 pounds and the other at
: 39. He mentions that the hard wood caused him to use a belt sander as an
: 80 grit fairing board was not doing much.

Sounds about right. I built a 18' long x 20" wide BTD Njord this spring for a Spanish customer. I think you've all seen the pictures... It was all hardwoods. 80% Honduran mahogany, the rest curly maple and cherry. The strips were 3/16" thick and was sheathed in 4oz E glass inside and out. I also used belt sander for some initial sanding but used the ROS and hand longboard for the remainder. Finished weight was 43 pounds. It weighed a few pounds extra due to the wooden seat and other accouterments.

My first kayak was a Guillemot. 1/4" cedar core and 6 oz glass IO. Weight: 41 pounds. For about the same weight, the mahogany was SO much prettier than the cedar!

I have a huge stack of cherry... hmmmm.

Dan