I am nearing the completion of the stripping of the deck of a Guillemot and have run into a problem around the area of the recessed cockpit. I chose not to use the optional form sections in the cockpit area, but I don't think this lead to the problem. I think my stripping technique has lead to the problem. I stripped about 4 strips of 3/4" wrc along the sheer line of the deck. I then filled in the center of the deck with 1" cypress strips running parallel to the center line. The problem is that I can't join the front and back deck in a fair manner (due to the lower rear deck strip height) in the rear corner section of the cockpit recess area. If I lower the recess about 1-2" closer to the sheer, I will be cutting out the unfair section. The question is: How close to the sheer line is the maximum I can safely lower the recess?

Thanks
Kurt