Simplicate and add more lightness.

That quote probably originated from William Bushnell Stout. Aviation designer father of the Ford Trimotor. But it has been since taken up by scores of engineers. Colin Chapman of the Lotus race car fame took it to heart and applied it to his work. He would say that if you add power to a car, it would be faster in straight line but if you add lightness, it would be faster everywhere. Of course, lightness, in effect is subtractive. The idea is that one must ask at every step of a design wether an element is over built. Anything too strong is a liability to the whole both structurally and performance wise.
How light can a skin boat be before it begins to suffer? Over the years I have been taking notes of area where this ancestral design could be tweaked. I am now convinced I can build a Greenland kayak under 30 pounds without compromising on strength.

Welcome to all on this build along.

First, the deck beam diet....

6 in yellow cedar deck beam, 100. Grams


-same in red cedar, 80 g


Red cedar profiled, 50 g. I stood on it, so compressive strength is more than 185 pounds. Still ridiculously strong.


Typical installation.


All the wood that was removed from all the deck beam prior to sanding and installation. Chapman would be proud.


The slender frame coming along


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