: I'm a few pounds lighter than you and found the Shearwater 17 too tight. Eric
: based the Shearwater design on his Merganser line, which is available in
: six sizes, three of which are larger than the biggest Shearwater. I just
: finished a Merganser 17W, which is only an inch wider than the Shearwater,
: but a lot roomier.

Wesly, let me know how you like the 17W. I have the plans for that ans spent a good bit of time speaking with Eric Shade last night. I absolutely love the looks of the Redfish boats but they are about $400 more for their kits so I will have to see how much I have left after having my driveway paved!

I may go with the Redfish if I have the funds or save a little and try the 17W Hybrid. Either way, I doubt I'll be disappointed and will probably end up building a second or third boat!

Thanks to all of you that have responded. I got some excellent advice and gained a lot of knowledge. The post describing the difference between Hard and Multi-Chined hulls was very clear and made a lot of sense. I will probably take all the info I have in this thread and write out the bullet points so it's all in one spot for easy reference.