:My question
: is would it be possible to apply this same idea to a sea kayak?

Sure. In fact it is more difficult to make a canoe this way than to make a kayak. This has to do with the bracing needed to keep the top open on a canoe.

:also I
: would do basically the same thing, but use kevlar roving/chordage as the
: ribs. I could simply cut small notches where the kevlar roving would lay
: on the stringers. soak the kevlar in resin, and make ribs that way.

I'm not sure kevlar would be the product of choice. The ribs need to be pretty stiff to keep the boat from collapsing under water pressure -- and the kevlar-filled plastics I've seen were pretty flexible. Carbon fiber might be a better choice. Even glass fiber would be better. A layup like that used for a fiberglass bow, (as in archery bow, not bow of a boat) tent pole, or fishing pole would be the kind of thing you would want to emulate. Fishing poles, you will note are made of graphite (carbon) fiber and not kevlar.

: I think this could save a lot of time and energy in the building process. It
: would save the hassle of steam bending all those ribs, and would most
: likely come out about the same stiffness and strength wise. any thoughts?

Actually, steaming is pretty doggone fast. Once the wood is steamed it is bent to shape and in moments it is so cool that it holds that shape. You have a good deal of control over the thickness and width of the wood through conventional woodworking techniques ( sawing, planing, sanding, etc.) both before and after the bending operation. With resins and fibers, but no molds, you'll have variable thicknesses, depending on how much resin drips off before it sets up. Depeneding on the wood species and shape used, the weight of a plastic component is probably going to be the same or more than bent wood, too, in the same way that solid fiberglass canoes are heavier than wood strip canoes.

You might try a bit of both worlds. Consider making your ribs of much thinner material, say 1/16th inch thick, or 1/8th inch thick. These would be so thin they would bend easily to shape without needing to be steamed. A drop of hot melt glue would hold these loops closed until they were resinforced.

You could then cover these with a layer or two of lightweight glass cloth. The result would be ribs that were one piece and highly durable. Using a squeegee to apply the resin, the cloth would be a uniform thickness, and serve as a depth gauge, giving an evenly thick layer of resin and reinforcement.

For a trial, I'd try two layers of 4 ounce fabric on the inside of the ribe, and one layer on the outside. You can wrap the fabric around the narrow sides of the rib, or trim it off.

hope this helps

PGJ