There was some discussion a while back on the WaveLength or Paddlewise mail list regarding how many home built boats actually fail in use. If I recall correctly there was not one instance of a boat failure, aside from the luan (cheap doorskin) ply becoming delaminated. Is all this talk about strength a little in vain? Just the process of fiberglassing the wooden hull (and just taping the inside seams of the plywood boats) seems to offer sufficient strength to survive all but a direct hit of major ocean wave against craggy cliff face. Am I missing something here? How many boats fail? In what way do they fail?
>

> Wouldn't it make sense to run two layers of wood strips, half
> the "usual" thickness, perpendicular to each other.

> You could either use rings perpendicular to the usual strip direction,
> or lay strips 45 degrees to the keel (spiral effect) in 90 degree
> opposition to each other.