: I built a Wood Duck 12 Hybrid with my daughter last summer. The
: build was fast and fairly simple. There are indeed some
: high-pressure joins in the hull, but wetting the ply made them
: flexible enough. I bought a partial kit--just the hull panels
: and stripping forms. We milled our own deck strips and did a
: veneer coaming ala the strippers I've built. The hatch is in the
: rear bulkhead: simple and effective. Joe Greenley-clone seat.
: The boat is a lot of fun: very stable, yet surprisingly fast and
: straight tracking for its type. The big cockpit admits dogs,
: kids, fishing gear, what have you. In contrast, the Pinguino is
: much more "real kayak" than the WD, I believe. I've
: never seen one, but I paddled with John Lockwood last Halloween;
: he talked the boat up quite a bit, and noted that some fairly
: hot paddlers up his way have been having fun surfing the
: Pinguino--which w/b outside the WD envelope for most. I'm pretty
: sure John will never sell plans. That's just not his business
: model.

: --Scott

Thanks for the input Scott. Much appreciated.

My main deciding factor is probably stability - as a "returning" and older kayaker I am more interested in comfort and easy access in the event of a tip! Maybe I will build both over time! I have found someone who is building a WD12 and is local so I expect to see one of them very soon.