I think I have figured out how to do this whole composite rib thing. I now know that thin ribs will work, My model worked out PERFECTLY. On the real boat, the ribs will be made up of 3 layers, 2 layers of 1 inch kevlar on the insde, and on every other rib, a 1 inch piece of carbon on the outside. I would sink the carbon cloth down into the wood a little ways as to not disrupt the flow of the stringers. I thikn that with that layup, and maybe 8 stringers on the hull, and 3 on the deck. I could come out with a Very light boat. If things came out not quite stiff enough, I could easily enough install a few "thwarts" and "pillars" to hold the boat out. but the kev and carbon are a very good combo.

The reason I want to do this without steambending wood, is I want to see how quickly and easily I can do this, Who knows if my idea works out, I could produce boats to sell. What a novel idea

any thoughts? I wish I could get some pics of my model up on the web, but the digital camera is being a pain.