I can easily pick up my kayak by its coaming, with no perceptible flexing.

The coaming lip is 3.5 mm (about 1/8 inch) thick marine ply by 26 mm wide. It is 19 mm wide - about 3/4 inch - where the skirt binds.

The coaming lip is filleted to the riser on the underside and glassed to the deck on both sides with 4 ounce cloth.

1/2 inch seems like vast overkill, in comparison.

1/8 inch is light, slim and elegant.

: One of the things I noticed at R2K is that my coaming lip was too small. I
: added a couple laminations to it, and now it's 1/2". Several of the
: boats I saw had coaming lips quite a bit thicker, maybe 3/4"? How
: much is enough? Should I be able to pick the boat up by the skirt? Perhaps
: I could add to the width of it, that seems to be where the skirt comes off
: first.