: http://www.thomassondesign.com/catalog/my-kayaks/black-pearl
: http://clearstreamwood.com/WordPress/portfolio/kayaks/2006-black-pearl-ct
: http://clearstreamwood.com/WordPress/portfolio/kayaks/2007-white-black-pearl
: http://clearstreamwood.com/WordPress/portfolio/kayaks/2007-black-pearl-queens-nyc

Thanks! It saved me the post.

All three Black Pearls used 3/16" thick strips and 4oz glass and were built for the open ocean. They each weighed around 28-29 pounds.

I'm sure one could have been made a few pounds lighter by using even thinner wood, a single layer of 3oz tightweave glass and perhaps go the distance and not paint it. Unless you're good at vacuum-bagging or infusion, I'd limit the use of carbon fiber. Hand-layups use a lot of epoxy and end up being quite heavy. A qt of varnish/paint will save the epoxy from UV but it adds about 2 pounds. The resulting boat could weigh less than 25 pounds.

But why? Seriously, 28 pounds is light for an 18 foot long sea kayak. It would be neat to build the lightest-weight kayak ever but if it breaks in half the first time you get in it...