: A small amount of hardwood doesn't make a huge difference in weight
: unless it's one of the wildly heavy tropical woods. Get carried
: away with it though and these woods can add a sizeable amout of
: weight. Not hard at all to end up with a 50 lb. boat.

Very true... Hardwoods also add a ton of work. They are generally more difficult to shape, bend and sand. They're so much prettier though than softwoods!! You can build a 40 pound stripper entirely out of hardwoods. The "Nereida" was mostly Honduran mahogany, curly maple and walnut (about a 80/10/10 ratio) with a touch of black cherry. Topped out at 42 pounds using 3/16" strips (with tricks I've learned since 2008 I could have saved a pound or two). That's the same weight as my first Guillemot with 1/4" thick white cedar and WAY too much glass and epoxy. I knew the curly maple was going to be pretty under the glass and clearcoat, but I was surprised at home much it enhanced the grain of the mahogany. It blew me away. We need 3D internet pictures...