> Yeah, put it on the inside. Carbon doesn't have real great abrasion
> resistance. Put it on the inside where it will be protected from gravel
> and beaches. It should add some nice stiffness, though.

> Shawn

If the carbon fiber tape that you are using is pre-impregnated and bonded with epoxy, that particular stuff is incredibly stiff. Its known as "spar cap" in the homebuilt airplane hobby and is commonly used by the builders for caps on their wing spars, which is just a giant cantilevered beam. Note that if your carbon fiber tape is in a loose tow format, ie, loose threads, handle it gently as it breaks very very easily. If I remember right, one strand alone is 5 or 5 micorns in diameter, and there are thousands to a "thread". Finally, if your tape is in loose tow format, expect to get only about 50% of the fibers ideal strength once you lay it up in a bonding matrix. If it is in prebonded tape from a producer,you can get to 90% of theoretical strength limit.

Either way, carbon fiber is stiff stuff, but probably overkill for a 17' kayak. It may have its place in a longer tandem, but its brittle and a lot of handling during installation, or epoxying will bust up the fine fibers.

And per shawn before me, put it on the inside, where it can act in its best capability, under tension. As a side, kevlar approaches carbon in strength, but is more flexible and slightly more forgiving.

Best of luck.