what is the advantage of making canoes that are light
Dugout canoe In ancient many dugouts were made from linden wood, for several reasons. First, was abundant in the Paleolthic after the melting of the Weichselian glaciation and readily available. Secondly it grew to be one of the tallest trees in the forests of the time, making it easier to build longer boats. Linden wood also lends itself well to carving and doesn't split or crack easily. It is lighter and therefore boats made from it have a better cargo capacity and are easier to carry, than most other tree types from the European old-growth forests.
Go-fast boat During the era of Prohibition in the United States, these boats joined the ranks of "rum-runners" transferring illegal liquor from larger vessels waiting outside U.S. territorial waters to the mainland. The high speed of such craft enabled them to avoid interception by the Coast Guard. More recently the term "cigarette boat" has replaced the term "rum-runner". The present era of cigarette boats, dating from the 1960s, owes much of their design to boats designed for offshore powerboat racing, particularly by designer and builder Donald Aronow. During this period, these boats were used by drug smugglers to transfer drugs across the Caribbean to the United States.