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?