> I think the question We need to ask is; why put fillets in, in the first
> place?

> My logic(?) says If the fillet was strong by itself, then We wouldn't need
> to put the tape in after the fillet. Putting in a fiilet probably just
> gives the tape a nice curved shape, spreading the load across the tape
> rather than concentrating all the load in a tight corner. Of course I
> could be wrong and soon be reading all about it here:)

> When I built My Guillemot S&G, I put in fillets, after I'd finished
> the hull I started worrying about weight and about cost and about whether
> they were really necessary anyway, those fillets sure ate up a hell of a
> lot of epoxy and I still had the other half of the boat to do. So I made
> up a few test pieces with fillets of varying widths and tried breaking
> them, there was not much difference so I went with fillets about 3/4"
> wide (and yes I know the tests weren't very scientific George, so don't
> You get on My case!). I managed to bury most of the ties in the fillets,
> but there are a few lumpy bits, just not where they will be seen.

> Of course I havn't been for a paddle in it yet as it still isn't finished.
> I guess I shouldn't have proposed to My fiance until after I finished
> building, Should have seen the honey-dew patch coming. I'm working on a Pygmy Osprey STD and all this talk about large fillets boggles my mind!! Pygmy's kit is so precise the hull fillets are almost non-existent, relying solely on the strength of the System Three resin bond it was first introduced with, then a tad more resin applied with a dental syringe, largely to flatten any chines to accept the 6# fiberglass cloth. You can take a utility light inside the hull and see very little light coming through, that's how tight, straight, and exact the Pygmy kits are cut out!! I'm about 95% finished with my kayak, and it weighs in at 32 pounds. I can't imagine the seat will ad another 3 or 4 pounds max, and bulkheads and hatches another 3-4#.
> Paul.