By Ted Kesting • 'I he one big question in the mind of a man or boy who is thinking cl buying a boat in kit form is. ''Can I put it. together so I'll have a good boat? Willard Crandall, expert on all matters concerning boating, says of course vou ran if you're at all handy with tools. Just the same, there are some "howevers." You've got to pick a model of good de sign. one suited to your water ways. your load and your motor or y u may not have anything worth putting together. Don't make you first attempt anything as large as an outboard cruiser. Practice with a pram will give you fundamental knowledge that can pay off if you want to tackle a big boat later. Practically all kit boats are made of sheet plywood For mak ing assembly easy, there's nothin t like plywood. It makes a good boat for most small boats there is no better material. Plywood has one drawback, however—it does not take abra si n too well. If you want to keep your boat always tied at a pier, or K you are going to drag it on shallow bottoms or pebbly beach 's. usually it'll be best to pass up .he plywood and kit idea. A true round-bottom b at can't be built from sheet plywood. It won't bend that way. That's why you don't find canoe kits on the market: that's why you can’t buy an old-time "resort type " rowboat ;ii kit form. But you can buv. in a k::. an outboard runabout that, acts much like the standard ready-made roundbottoms tha.t are widely sold. There isn't much vmuul to the bottom, but neither is there to the standard outboard roundbottem It wouldn't have the speed the public wants, if there were. To gel down to it. with kit boats is with all others, most important :s how rood the design is—all lines of the design That's more im portant often than whether it

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