: An extra thought on the subject. In order to stiffen a very thin hull that
: uses light glass as well you may consider internal longitudinal stringers
: (half round) in the very lightest material you can find. Wooden or carbon,
: or foam or whatever, running lengthwise along the hull three inches apart
: or so. These would go between the glass and the wood and would seriously
: stiffen the hull by adding effective corrigations to the structure of the
: glass epoxy matrix.

: Etienne

Those longitudinal ribs (stringers?) can be fairly easily made with styrofoam cut into square sections, epoxied on, then sanded to shape. Just be sure you've got a wet vac to suck up the considerable dust you'll create. Once glassed the material you've used for these stringers doesn't have to be there at all, so the foam works fine for this and it's light (cheap too).

Bill H.