Hi Erez, I think the main concern with stress risers is with the hull flexing inward against a non-compressible, solid wood/glass bulkhead. Hence the use of solid minicell or padded-perimeter solid bulkheads. That way, when the hull flexes inward, there is no shear force at the edge of the bulkhead.

My intention is to make a gradually stiffer area toward the bulkhead to minimize this hull flexing and ultimately minimize/eliminate bulkhead stress risers. I'm not totally averse to the foam padding idea, but I want to mount a footpump on my front bulkhead, and I want it as rigid as possible to take the strain from my franticly pumping feet.

A glued-in foam bulkhead would pull away from the hull almost as easily as a glassed in wood bulkhead.

> I think it's a mistake to glass the bulkhead to the hull. it might be
> better to just hold it to the hull with small amount of thickened epoxy,
> so if the stress will rise, the bulkhead will break from the hull, but
> none of the two (hull & bulkhead) will break.

> erez