I'm building one using butternut--classified as a hardwood but it's fairly soft stuff. According the the charts it compares favorably with cedar for strength and weight. Since it's my first boat I can't compare its workability with cedar but didn't seem too hard to work with. It's a relative of walnut though it has a light color-- really pretty stuff. I just started glassing, I'll post a few pictures soon.
Mark

: Has anyone built a stripper using hardwoods? What were your impressions,
: would you do it again? I'm just getting tired of looking at cedar and was
: kicking around ideas for something different. Any comments would be
: appreciated.