I finally got a shipment of Paulownia in and am using it on a displacement hulled SUP, but most definately am going to build a kayak with this stuff. If you can find it, and it is very hard to find these days, I recommend trying it. It's like balsa in weight, color, and even feel, but it is way stronger, and if you want a wood that bends well this is the wood for you. I took a thin strip (a scrap about 3/16") and bent it to about a foot radius, and twisted it, and it still didn't break.

Take note, however, WEAR A DUST MASK! It is similar to balsa in that it makes a fine, "fluffy" sawdust. I failed to wear a dust mask when ripping strips. I got rushed and forgot to put the mask on and just didn't think about it until I was almost done. When I was cleaning up, my lungs literally hurt when I breathed in. I kicked myself because I am usually a stickler for wearing a mask but just completely did not think about it. Lesson learned.

I took a 1x6x72 board, stretched it between two sawhorses, and stood on it. Definately strong. It is a sustainable wood that grows very fast, and the grain structure is such that it doesn't have big thick growth rings like many fast-growing woods like pine. There isn't a defined summer/winter ring, so it doesn't tend to split on the rings. For the project I am doing now the hull is fir, and the deck is paulownia. Believe me I am wishing I had done it the other way around because this stuff would have been much easier to contort around the bow and stern.

Even if you can't use it for a whole boat (it is not cheap), I think this is the perfect wood for internal stem bands and wood bulkheads if you are looking for weight reduction. It also would bend easily around a cockpit coaming.