: Lee

: I haven't had any damage on my wooden kayaks, but I did have a Betsy Bay
: fiberglass Recluse in which the coaming separated from the hull. I have
: seen a few coamings with a 1/2 inch lip overhang and have been wondering
: if it’s necessary to stay with the 3/4 inch lip overhang.

: My coaming openings are usually small, and require the paddler to enter and
: exit the cockpit from and to a sitting position on the rear deck. This
: leads to sitting on the rear of the coaming at times.

: I also may grab the front of the coaming lip at times when exiting the
: cockpit.

I make my lips quite wide because it makes the sprayskirt more secure. 3/4" wide sounds reasonable. 1/2" will probably work, but would be marginally less secure. A layer of glass over the lip should make it pretty rugged.