Its hard to believe a boat can be so light, yet useful.
...Oh, but it can. In the 1980's, Mainer Platt Monfort invented a type of construction that allows such light weight. He named his method Geodesic Aerolite. I built it out of curiosity.
Of course, I wouldn't waste my time building an ugly design. Platt called this one Snowshoe 12. Its actually 11'6", and its a stretched knockoff of Wee Lassie, designed by J. Henry Rushton in the 1890s.
Simple. The skin is 4 ounce Dacron brushed with two coats of water based spar varnish to seal it. Floorboards are velcroed to the frames.
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I ended up selling this boat to a guy named Joe who, interestingly, invented and manufactured a very lightweight electric motor. He claimed the combination is "the world's lightest powerboat". Huh. Here's his website: www.electricpaddle.com
