Dan, How do you apply the carbon fiber and keep it smooth? Do you have a vacuum system?

Patience. Lots of patience. ;)

I use regular 5.5oz 2x2 twill weave carbon fiber. From my roll I cut my strips on a 45 degree bias for the highest conformability.

I found that if you lay the dry carbon directly onto the plywood and try to wet it out normally (dry method, like the deck or hull) the carbon will move around and is hard to wet out. So I laminate mine with a wet-dry method. I lay the carbon onto a fresh layer of brushed-on epoxy. 90% of the carbon is wetted out just by pressing it down into the epoxy with a brush. Any dry spots get a bit more epoxy.

If your carbon still moves around in the fresh epoxy creating air bubbles in the lamination, try this method:

To force the carbon to stick to all the surfaces, brush on a light coat of epoxy onto the plywood. Wait a few hours until it starts to gel. It should be very tacky to the touch. Lay the dry carbon onto the gelled epoxy and press it down thoroughly with a brush. It'll be very hard to re-position without ruining the carbon once pressed down! Wet out the fabric with epoxy. The carbon should stay tight to the plywood and not move.

I do have a vacuum system but I don't use it for coamings. The peel ply and and bagging material doesn't like the tight compound curves on a coaming riser and rim. It creates so much sanding.