I am building a Patuxent 19.5 (I put the rear deck section on today), and what I did was add a strip of 6oz tape to the length of the stem. I made sure to stretch the tape so it would lay flat at the edjes, and sanded the edjes slightly into the glass to feather the edje. I did this before sheathing the hull in 4oz cloth. It is invisible under the epoxy. I also wet the tape out on a piece of cardboard before I laid it on the boat, making it easier to conform to the stem shape.