: Well, from my perspective, the answer to the lack of comparison is
: a big YES and a big NO.

: Carbon is rarely used as a stand-alone shell material. I have seen
: pure carbon kayaks fresh out of a bagged mold with no cores
: present, but it's rare, it's testy and it isn't for the everyday
: guy.

: When it comes to building a cored carbon skinned boat, the process
: is very much like that which one uses for a wooden boat. (e.g. a
: set of forms upon which you build your core prior to laminating
: with your preferred material) You do not have to vacuum bag to
: skins to get a good laminate. Vacuum bagging will produce a
: lighter, higher strength-to-weight ratio hull than without the
: technique, but it is not empirically necessary.

: Fairing a foam core is just about the same as doing it on a wooden
: boat... maybe even a bit easier, as the material is easier to
: remove.

: Two halves of the hull are built, one at a time and then assembled
: to create a final, enclosed hull volume. Foam cored boats are
: built with horizontal, as well as vertical joining seams, so the
: process is very familiar to wooden boat builders in this
: fashion.

: A well built, carbon skinned, foam cored boat is going to be
: lighter than a wooden cored boat (look at the typical Olympic
: Class craft being produced and you'll see that carbon is the
: material of choice for a light and strong boat for elite
: athletes). Carbon and foam boats will not have the same puncture
: resistance as will a wooden cored boat, so there is a big plus
: for wood in this regard. If puncture resistance is not a part of
: your design description, then it might pay to look around at the
: various methods for building that are available.

: Wood VS Carbon aesthetics... well, it all depends on personal
: preferences and desired, end-use applications as to which one
: looks the best. Subjective determinations, such as this, are all
: over the map from person to person, so to haul that potential
: into an argument is asking for an indeterminate outcome.

: You guys should not be intimidated by the sound of working with
: carbon and foam as a suitable kayak building medium. Once you
: get into it, the differences will simply drift away and you'll
: learn to select the material and techniques that best suit your
: design brief and chosen use regimen.

: Look around, have fun and keep an open mind.

What makes you believe that anyone's intimidated by the stuff?

Bill H.