Bigger tri's get bigger loads and more complex interiors. People building boats in general never seem to understand just how long it takes to build the interior that many seem to think will be the easy part. You measure a part from the plans, cut it out, climb up into the boat, fit the part, mark changes, climb back down out of the boat, cut the part, back into the boat etc. etc.

The 18 is a pretty simple little boat with loads not much more than a beach cat, go up 5 or 6 ft and the rig grows and the loads increase a lot, more loads means more structure to resist those loads.

Bigger boats are not all that hard to build, they are just seriously time consuming. If you can plan out your time and can set aside enough time every week for quite a long build you can do it. It's not an overgrown kayak by any stretch.

Bill H.