: I have already built 5 S&G Yaks, all of which I glassed the
: hull and decks with standard 4 oz glass.

: I've now got into racing and am considering building a strip ICF
: racer of my own design with the help of The Kayak Foundry.

: I'm thinking of useing 1/8 Paulowina for the strips (and even
: possibly some balsa ,to keep the weight to minimum ) and glass
: inside and out of both deck and hull with either ,ONE LAYER of
: carbon fiber ,or alternativley ONE LAYER of 4 oz galss.

: (I have used carbon covered balsa for rudders with great success in
: the past.)

: I may vacum bag if practical.

: The object is to get the benifits of a cored hull, of light weight
: , that will only be used in still water racing ,therefor
: standard durability need not come into the equasion.

: Can anyone who is familar with cored hulls ,tell me what are the
: strength differences and any pluses and minuses, of using the
: one layer method of carbon fiber instead of 4 oz glass.

: Dont worry about commenting on the cost differences as I have
: aquired enough carbon fiber already ,very very cheaply.

: Thanks Bris Paul

Soller Composites has light carbon, 4 ounce and Kevlar which is actually lighter weight at 5 ounce. But you can probably get by with the 3.2 ounce tight weave glass that I've been using that absorbs far less resin than any fabric I've found. It's from Thayercraft, it's also cheap :)

If you do use the 3.2 ounce you really have to be careful of abrasion and impacts, it's VERY light, for it's weight though it's also strong as the weave is very tight, I think it's 220x200, much finer weave than any glass you've likely seen.

Bill H.