Hi Bill,

> "hinge" upon impact. Any advice on support ribbing, etc. running
> longitudinally with the hull and perpendicular to the joint that may help.

If you're that worried about the strength of your hull, you'll probably develop as much strength as you can with an extra layer of glass over the scarf, and a well-glued scarf joint. Mike's advice about offsetting the joints 4' is a good one--just take the 4' you cut off the one end and move it to the other--voila! your joints are now offset 4'.

Beyond that, you're just as likely to have failure somewhere else in the hull as at the joint. If you don't want to thicken the entire hull, then ribs or stringers would be a great idea. I think I'd go with longitudinal stringers down the center of each panel (the chine will be strong due to the panels meeting at an angle and your epoxy fillet/tape. Check out the link below--on Ray's third (I think) kayak, he reinforced the hull with "boxbeams" of foam laminated with composite. The foam does little more than provide a shape for the resin/cloth, but once cured would be very strong, while lightweight.

> Thanks again gentlemen. Any time!