Beauty looking boat. Wooden boats and skin on frame are both lighter than fibreglass also. 40# is a good target, and easily achievable with stitch and glue or skin on frame. Keeps the material cost down also. Most production kayaks in fibreglass tend to be upwards of 60 pounds, and very expensive also. Mine wasn't too bad as I got a deal second hand, but I will build the next one after I play around with this one and turn it into a semi sit-on-top.

I've often wondered about the Micmac ocean going canoe. It was sort of half way to becoming a kayak. Originally very narrow with lots of tumblehome, and a bump in the middle. I've thought of scaling one down for a single. My thinking is that there must be a reason kayaks are traditional only in northern waters, and that more open designs might be better suited as you go further south. I think sit-on-tops are a partial reflection of this. I think canoes could be re-invented, or at least deserve another look. Way too many tubby canoes out there. I have seen some marathon canoes that are real beauties, and the traditional birch bark canoes of the Mik'maq and Malecite and other tribes were absolute marvels in engineering, and still are, even to this day.