If you really want a fair test of Nick's recommended lay-up, you really should test a 6oz+6oz/.250/6oz+6oz panel as well. Nick recommends two layers of glass inside and out in the mid-section of the boat (i.e., the area most likely to be stressed by landings on rocks, etc), and similar reinforcements in the bow and stern, keel, and cockpit areas. Yes, this means a somewhat heavier boat, but the areas most likely to receive destructve stresses are not going to be a single layer of six ounce cloth inside and out. Look at Nick's book and the diagram of a "typical" glassing schedule for an indication of where these double layers show up.

It seems like the only .250" strip layup you want to test is with a single layer of glass. That is not a fair comparison to tests of thinner strips with multiple glass layers.