: Bob,

: No difference - B&C or plane edge, failure will propagate through the wood
: rather than the bondline.

: Sam
Hey, Sam-

I agree, with an important caveat: The failure will initiate and propogate through the wood IF the glue joint is a good one.

From a wood technology standpoint, a good glue joint requires two things: a mechanically coplanar and fresh (not oxidized) surface, and 100-250 psi clamping pressure. So, if these conditions are met (B&C or planed edge), there will be a strong glue joint that will not fail prior to wood fiber failure.

Clamping pressure is not a problem for strips : duct tape, bungees, whatever- it doesn't take much to develop 200 psi along a 1/4-1/8 inch thick piece of wood.

But as far as B&C or planed joints, I'll revert to woodworking to analyze. When gluing up a table top or cutting board, a good way is with a freshly hand planed or machine jointed surface. Any alignment dowels or biscuits should not be glued, and the flat, planar surface will glue better than a tongue and groove or other fancy joint. The T&G prevents the generation of the clamping pressure (due to gaps) required for an optimum joint. (Glue does not have much strength across gaps) And, of course, it takes some mondo clamping to develop that pressure.

This was also my experience with strips: due to tiny amounts of tearout while milling the B&C joints, I had more gaps than with the hand-planed edges. More gaps equals less strength.

Of course, this is not important because epoxy and glass save the day.

If, however, one desires to shift some of the structural resposibility for the boat's seaworthiness from glass to wood, then methinks that eliminating gaps might be a happy thing.
Mike