My stripper is also a Bear Mountain design (17'6" "Redbird"), from the book Canoecraft. Here's a POD of it from last summer:
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It is very fast, and extremely stable in rough water. I too love the stiffness of a stripper compared to the Kevlar rentals I've tried, and at close to 70 lb. the Redbird has the added bonus of giving you a better workout on the portages! (You could cut the weight some if you were careful)

Bear Mountain has a great website and set of message boards. If you're looking at building a stripper, I'm sure that if you ask, the regs there will give you lots of great advice on the pros and cons of each of the BM designs as well as on any construction details where you might have questions.

I have never considered graphite paint on the hull, even though I've been aware of its existence since I built the boat. Cover up all that beautiful cedar? No way! A light sanding and a coat of varnish at the end of the year and the boat looks as good as new.