molded, stacked cockpit ring
Matt, as I remember, I used off cuts and scrap....when stacked it really does not matter which way the plies run, in fact, a random stack is probably stronger. I made a cardboard template of the lower rings and then used it for the upper rings and just made them wider, keeping the inside profile/shape the same. Now, of course, I'd use Gorrila Glue for the strength and gap filling characteristics.
If you make parts of most of the first ring and glue them on, just doing a razosaw work to make joints tight, then when you can, set the next ring, and use the razor saw to make tight joints.and so forth. They just MOLD into shape, and it seems that the whole assembly must be pretty strong, like any laminated beam, it is just that this beam is a compound curve.
The deck beam was made of thin strips, bent over a male mold and glued as a group, then sawed t the proper width, and then length-fitted and set into place.
Somehow, I like this idea better than setting a solid-wood coaming on edge, against a thin ply deck and hoping it will stay.
Now, remember, i am a luthier, so causing wood in thin sections to find curves it never imagined while in the tree is what I do each day. But, really, making a cockpit ring capable of taking a spray shield or shower cap or eskimo-roll skirt is not all that hard.
Looking forward to seeing the revised sketches.
got my new benches built in the shop here at home, now putting up some pegboard on the walls to hold the tools I usually set down and can't find.
Carry on. Islandpiper
Outstanding little tourer/rec boat. easy to build, nice lines, could be a winner I think 
