: I think you need to 'nail down' your requirements more precisely.
: Are you looking for a 'rec kayak' type of boat with a big open
: cockpit, or a sprayskirt-type sea kayak ? What range of paddler
: weights will this kayak suit?

: (I'm not much of a paddler, but 'stable in the water' and 'quality
: design' don't necessarily go together for me.)

: If you want to teach lessons with the building, I think a wood boat
: (strip or S&G) would be a better bet. Building a straight glass
: boat from a mold sure doesn't appeal to me. And, it is tough to
: get a good light composite boat without vacuum bagging and the
: right layup schedule. It won't be much fun for the kids if the
: boats are heavy.

: Wood building with glass/epoxy over would be cleaner and take
: longer as well - you won't teach a lot of life lessons popping a
: boat out of a mold after a few hours work, IMO. Any kid can
: drill panels and wire together a S&G hull, or staple strips on a
: mold (if you have a design that isn't too twisty to strip
: easily). And they have the potential for a lot of
: "patience, grasshopper, patience" lessons.....
: ;-)
I think this is a very important point. I don't know if I agree with the "stability != quality design" comment but to each their own. Back to the point, teaching kids to actually build something that takes effort, not just the right (expensive) tools is a great learning experience for the kids and potentially the parents/teachers also. It would also be much easier to build a couple of different designs (to accommodate different size/skill paddlers) and allow some customization throughout the build process if you go with wood boats.