[Paddlewise] advice for potential new builder

Hi All,

I'm thinking of taking the plunge and building a skin on frame kayak.  I've a 
Klepper single and really like the skin on frame feel and it's touring 
capability, but would like to try something lighter and more responsive and 
non-folding.

Building space limitations give me an 11' length, 12' at a push, so I was 
thinking of a playful boat along the lines of a North Alaskan Retrieval, or 
Robert Morris's Recovery take on the theme, with a 24"ish beam.

My next limitation is one of building skill and experience (ie complete 
beginner) so I've been looking at different construction methods to make life 
a little easier for a first timer.

I found the pics of Tom Yost's fine kayaks on Hendrik's site where a mix of 
aluminium tubes with plywood cross ribs, stem, stern and coaming combine to 
form an effective frame that looks simpler to build than traditional methods.

Am I right in thinking the joints can effectively be made by epoxying, for 
initial positioning, followed by lashing for strength and longevity?

One route I could take is to take my Klepper single as a model.  It's 4.5m 
and deducting 1m would give the length I'm looking for.  It has sponsons of 
around 50mm each side, which I wouldn't have, bringing the beam to around 
0.62m.

Am I correct in thinking that if the seat position remains the same reducing 
the length by the same amount each end would keep the kayak balanced or am I 
over simplifying?

Would you expect ¾" tubing to be ok with the bend required for 11' length and 
24" beam?

Is there a standard way to work out the size, shape and positioning of ply 
ribs and lengths of stringers?
If I were looking to make equal changes to length and beam in a design, say 
25%, I'd expect to make the width of a ply rib 25% less and the length of a 
stringer 25% less.  It seems more complicated if one dimension changes, in 
this case beam, whilst the length remains the same.

Alternatively if anyone knows of a source for Retrieval / Recovery kayak 
plans based on aluminium and ply rib constructionâ^À¦â^À¦â^À¦â^À¦

Any advice gratefully received.

Cheers
Andy

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