Another Souris River canoe in for gunnel replacement. This is one of the older Prospector models and the gunnels were fabricated as a single piece with a slot cut along the length, allowing the hull canoe hull laminate to slip into it. The screws clamp it tight. At the stem end some undercutting is required to allow the gunnel ends to reach the end of the canoe.  For scale, the gunnel stock is about 1" square.  The original was more like 7/8" tall and 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" wide (I can't remember now).

I'm not sure why the gunnels were done this way.  I'm assuming that there was an expected time saving as only one piece per side was needing fitting, maybe easier to fabricate.  My experience fitting these gunnels is that one person working alone would have an easier time fitting a two piece gunnel as they are more flexible and easier to get started.  This style is much easier a a two person job as there really is no way to hold it into its curve while you get the first half installed.  Its very similar to fitting aluminum gunnels in this regard.