Peter is almost done planking the Kingfisher.  You may notice that the boat just about comes up to the top of Peters head.  It's not that the boat is that large but the stand that the boat sits on is able to be raised and lowered.  We lower it down to plank the bottom of the boat and then jack it up as we plank down the sides of the boat.  Otherwise we would have to crawl around on our knees to work along the rails of the boat.  The bench is also on casters so its very easy to move the canoe forms, which weigh several hundred pounds, around the shop.
Over in the left of the picture I'm working on the 11 ft Skimmer form.  I will be building an all wood, lapstrake  canoe off of this form.  Using a solid canoe form is needed for the wood and canvas canoes but its not the best for  lapstrake construction but we're trying to get double duty off of the one form. the lapstrake construction is very light but very strong for its weight.  It will have narrow cedar ribs, the planking edges will lap over each other and there is no inside rail and no covering on the outside, just varnished wood.  We're trying to keep the boat under 30 lbs but yet still not be "fragile"!