Not trying to get into a head to head thing, here, Jonathan... But if you look at the cash involved for a seat of Rhino3D and measure that against the cost of producing one full-blown kayak that is self-built with all the goodies for a suitable expedition boat, you will soon have yourself in the driver's seat of that software.

Everything after that is completely different, as you will have tools available to you that will allow virtually any and all modifications you may wish to install on your next boat and the one after that into the future.

Want to do a custom seat with full sectional output for each piece of the puzzle, want to have a custom casting done for any hardware you'd like on your boat..it's doable and the list goes on and on as to versatility and modeling potential.

Here's the real power, though... you get to pluck one of the previously done parts (or boats) from the hopper, modify it to suit your current needs and then make it ready for output to the fabrication choice you desire. Send it to the CNC guys for a plug? Send it to the rapid prototyping guys for a full 3D part that can be fit against what is already there?

Or, you can start all over again and repeat all that you did before.

Software is a tool and like any tool, it has it's strengths and its weaknesses. I will say, though, that I have never seen the basic elements, a pencil and sheet of paper, intuitively create a complete boat all on their own... so the software process would seem to represent a real savings of time should you wish to pursue the potential.

Chris Ostlind
Lunada Design