: Thanks Shawn. I don't know what's acceptable for strength on the deck of a
: S&G kayak. Even before I started stripping the deck, the hull seemed very
: stiff/strong. In reading the info on David's skin-on-deck Guillemot S&G,
: is there any reason why the deck has to be as structurally sound as a true
: strip built?

Depends on your intended usage.

: Not that I would intentionally construct something with a
: flaw in it, but how structural is the deck in this type of boat?

Think of the glass on both sides of the plywood as a truss. It's a composite stressed-skin panel. Now separating two panels like this (deck and bottom) by two (or four) other rigid panels (the sides), gives you a bigger truss. Actually more like a tubular member...
If you take the structure out of the deck, your kayak is structurally more like a channel than a tube. Still strong, but not quite as strong.

The cockpit on most boats is a weak spot, but by the time we build up the coaming, it isn't quite as bad.

Shawn