...Is S-glass inherently
: harder to achieve a transparent wetout? If I was to choose
: S-glass, looking at the Sweet Composites site they have a plain
: weave (6533) and 8-harness satin weave (6580) - both 6oz. Are
: the two weave types equal in terms of strength? ...
: Mark

Mark,

As Rob pointed out, plain weave S-glass can show a transparent weave pattern even though it is completely wetout. The pattern is more noticed by some than by others. In my experience, the more open the weave the more noticeable the pattern is. All other things equal, there is no difference in the difficulty of wetout between S-glass and E-glass. However, the weave style can have a strong affect on it. Ted Henry has described his experience with wetting out 6 oz 8-harness satin weave (http://www.metakrome.com/kayak/).

Sam