There have been lots of responses to your ideas, but don't shy away from a fillet and cloth substitute for the sheer clamp.

Lots of folks have effectively used a shop vac with several holes in the tube to provide cooling to the motor. Have fun with the project.

: My first boat is overweight because I used far too much epoxy, got crazy with
: filleting/taping (with heavy tape, I don't remember the gauge). Basically,
: I figured "this little bit won't hurt..." but didn't realize how
: all the little bits added up to a big, heavy bit. Oh, well.

: I considered eliminating the sheer clamp altogether, as I'm stripping the
: deck, but decided to keep it as the NBXL's deck-to-sheer angle is almost
: 90 degrees. Tape would be less effective going around a turn like this...
: so, I'll keep the clamp.

: Using 3mm epoxy after pre-coating the insides with 2 oz. glass sounds like a
: great idea. I just don't know where to get 3mm okume in the SF bay -
: McBeath's doesn't have any, and won't order it. I'll keep looking...

: Great point about the shop-vac. I was actually concerned about running the
: motor like that, but forgot about the cooling issue... well, I'll think
: about it. I was going to bag just the hull, and wanted to avoid putting
: the whole boat in the bag. I was concerned that 1 atm of pressure over the
: whole boat would crush it - by using the hull itself as one side of the
: vacuum vessel, (basically just putting the plywood and glass in the
: vacuum) atmospheric pressure backs up the inside of the boat, and I
: eliminante such concerns.

: So, how does this sound. 3mm ply, 2oz glass on the inside (applied
: pre-assembly per your technique) 4oz tightweave outside, further 2oz layer
: on bottom of hull. Stripped deck, 4oz tightweave top and bottom, bottom
: supported by foam/graphite ribs and stringers. Extra reinforcement around
: cockpit, aft-deck for re-entry.

: I'll experiment with some panels and my vacuum setup - if I can see a
: significant difference in weight between them (equal rigidity and fail
: strength) then I'll do it - otherwise I won't bother.