Hi Brion, I just left the cloth over the hole and made sure to epoxy into the hole a little then cut the cockpit out when the epoxy is still green with a razor knife.

You could trim the cloth to fit the hole but then you would have to worry about keeping the hole centered around the cockpit etc.

: OK, I feel silly asking, but I've read the directions several times and just
: am not sure what to do here. I've glued the deck on and my next step is
: glassing it. I have the glass cut and laid out on the deck of my Osprey.
: Before I apply the epoxy though, what do I do with the cockpit opening? As
: it is right now, the opening is covered with cloth. Am I supposed to trim
: it before I epoxy? If so, how much of it would get wrapped around and
: under the edge of the cockpit? Thanks....