: Hi. I'm thinking of building a shortened Guillemot, 15ft 6" and at
: present have a pile of forms but have not yet made a strongback, so I'm
: not yet past the point of no return. I am 65, 5ft 11" weigh 165lb and
: shrinking.
: I live 50 miles south of London UK so the boat will be used mainly for
: exploring inland water, some tidal.
: The reduction in length is intended to give me more manouverability and some
: weight reduction as I am likely to have to put it on the car roof on my
: own.
: I do some woodwork, last built a plywood kayak in 1964 and was then
: proficient at white water slalom.
: I intend to achieve the reduced length by starting with a 12" centre
: spacing and reducing each successive space by 1/4" and modifying the
: end forms to suit thus retaining much of the design volume.
: Does anyone feel this is a good or particularly bad move?

I'd recommend Nick's book as a reference for this btw, but if you are going to change the dimmensions I'd recommend a small but equal change at each station or you'll end up with a brand new boat that has none of the features of the orriginal.

Bill H.