: My concern
: was the structural stability of a 1" piece of wood on a
: 3/4" edge. However it seems to be the norm so I should
: probably not be concerned. Thanks for the insight.

Yup generally speaking its been done, Brains f1 for example: http://www.capefalconkayak.com/f1details.html

It sounds like you are building from several sets of plans rather than trying to follow any particular design. This can work in that you will probably get a boat that will float, but it really helps if you have some experience first so that you have an idea of what all the changes will add up to. I am pretty guilty of this as well in terms of changing the plans and ending up with boats that are a little more lively and exciting than they should be, hence why I am building an F1 mostly to spec now.
Basically, there are a myriad of ways to build a boat for a myriad of requirements and conditions. Small changes like adding beam or changing the rib shape or chine positions will have a dramatic affect on stability, tracking, buoyancy etc. Every design optimizes these for a specific requirement which is why you wont get a fixed answer on what is better. My 16.5' baidarka for example has three chines per side, and is only 21" wide. It handles quite a bit differently than commercial sea kayaks.

At the end of the day though you are going to build whatever you want, just make sure you wrap it in pallet wrap and try it out before skinning it. You will know pretty quickly if you like it or not.