I am about to fillet my Artic Hawk kit hull together. With the tight string test the keel line looks pretty straight, I will double check every thing a couple of more times. (Just a little up tight about getting something wrong!!!)

Guestions: It seems to me the instructions call for some really wide fillets on the seams. All of the hull already has 4 oz on the interior. So if I go with fillets that are as small as possible and then put a layer of bias 4 oz on the joints will I have a tough strong enough boat for general use?

Also, designer has me putting in a piece of the plywood about 1 1/2 inches wide by about 6 feel long and filling the gap between the bottom and the hull and where this piece rests on the bottom panels. Again would some glass tape be a decided loss of strength? I am 5 ft 3in and should weigh in at 150 but have bloomed to about 175 to 185. Really need to lose the weight, but it is more fun to obsess about trimming a few ounces from the boat than to eat right and drop 30 pounds myself.

Thanks for all the info you guys share.