I think the question We need to ask is; why put fillets in, in the first place?

My logic(?) says If the fillet was strong by itself, then We wouldn't need to put the tape in after the fillet. Putting in a fiilet probably just gives the tape a nice curved shape, spreading the load across the tape rather than concentrating all the load in a tight corner. Of course I could be wrong and soon be reading all about it here:)

When I built My Guillemot S&G, I put in fillets, after I'd finished the hull I started worrying about weight and about cost and about whether they were really necessary anyway, those fillets sure ate up a hell of a lot of epoxy and I still had the other half of the boat to do. So I made up a few test pieces with fillets of varying widths and tried breaking them, there was not much difference so I went with fillets about 3/4" wide (and yes I know the tests weren't very scientific George, so don't You get on My case!). I managed to bury most of the ties in the fillets, but there are a few lumpy bits, just not where they will be seen.

Of course I havn't been for a paddle in it yet as it still isn't finished. I guess I shouldn't have proposed to My fiance until after I finished building, Should have seen the honey-dew patch coming.

Paul.