Cynted:
The Seawind has a very high wing loading, even without the retracts. Which means you need to get going really fast before it will takeoff. Add retracts and the problem just gets worse. And you have to seal up the nose wheel well or the plane will fill up with water, so you can't
use the retracts while you are water flying.
As far as building is concerned, the only thing that you really need to do is leave off the water rudder. It is way too sensitive at planing speeds and if you
touch the rudder on the takeoff run it will water loop the airplane. You can steer reasonably well at low speeds with the air rudder if you blip the throttle so you don't need the water rudder anyway.
The take off technique is critical. The Seawind is very intolerant of the "full throttle and full up" style. It will get into an increasing porpoise until it buries its nose. See this thread for the technique that actually works.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_33...51/key_/tm.htm (Starting with post 1256.)
Jim