Absolute Beginners

[Dextral]

A few of my friends and I have decided that since the home office has a very limited sense of humour regarding the use of 'performance' equipment on the highways & byways, we would take to the water.
In pursuit of this goal, and given that we all have (to varying degrees) backgrounds in engineering, we plan to design & build ourselves some small, agile powerboats.
For the most part, we are complete novices in this field and would greatly appreciate the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of some of you giants out there.
I personally am considering a shallow vee, around 15' LOA with roughly 60hp inboard. Other than these very basic (and possibly mutually exclusive) criteria, I am struggling to find the correct 'next step'.
Obviously research would be of use, as would advise. That's where you nice people come in. All posts will be gratefully received & carefully considered. Show me how clever you really are!!
Many thanks in advance.

[Stephen Ditmore]

A thought and a question come immediately to mind.

Question: Would your boat resemble what is known here in the U.S. as a "flats boat?" (for example http://www.oceanmastersales.com/omhauptner.html
, used for shallow water fishing).

Thought: Consider contacting http://www.atlcomposites.com and finding out about building boats using DuFLEX. note: results will be better if you learn about design using conic or "developable" surfaces.