Like Larry said, Godin has some great patterns and I've also used patterns for GE by Michael Harde which are in his book. Not sure what wood is best but I use eastern white cedar for all my birds.
Rick,
I like black cork with composite keels,they ride well in rough conditions and are easy to build. Contact Dave Church on this site for cork supplier from Canada, i neglected to copy the address or would give it to you.
Bill.