Just getting ready to start my Black Pearl. I'm pretty sure that strip length has been discussed ad nauseum here but it's not really an easy topic to search.

Here's my situation. I have a radial arm saw in a work room that can accommodate 8' planks. Any longer and they can't be fed through the saw. Ripping them with this saw will be so darn easy - much so than with the circular saw/jig method.

In Schade's book he says that using shorter planks - 6'-8' - can be preferable to longer ones. I will be painting my boat so I'm not worried about the visibility of the joins. My question is there any real reason NOT to go with shorter strips. I'm guessing that you will need to make sure that your joints do not interfere with the fairing of the strips but I'm sure this can easily be avoided. Staggering would be benficial as well. I don't think they necessarily need top fall on forms, do they?

Any tips/suggestions/warnings?

Sean