jlillie:The S2 b had (at least close)celling laminate of 1 or 2 layers of 3oz chopped strand mat then about a 24 oz woven roving. Woven roving is nasty to laminate overhead and would sub. You might get buy w/ mat but its usually a good Idea to go close to what the design was. I sub a layer of 1 1/2 mat, 18 oz uni E glass (laied side to side), and a layer of 18 oz 45-45 Eglass and used strips as you did. My overlaps were greater for structure in the mast step area however. Prob overkill but then the original did fail. When tabbing your bulkheads I like to start by routing a 1/16 inch deep cut about 1 1/2 inch wide around the edge of plywood to be lam. Its also a good idea to use your foam between the wood and hull. Cut sides of the foam at 45 leaving a 3/4" center for the edge of the bulkhead. (or dem.of the thickness of bulkhead) This will not only relieve any hard spots, it also gives you a nice bevel for your glass tab. A rule of thumb is your tab should be close to the thickness of the hull and of course staggered edges. Generally I use a strip of 1 1/2 oz mat, and 2strips of 18 oz 45-45.
Resins: Ive gone away from West Expoys to using System Three or Mas. No amine blush. To test Ive laminated a 2x2 about 2 ft long end to a scrap of 3/4 plywood. Let it sit for a few days then pushed at the top of the 2x2 to destruction. Both the expoy and vinylester laminates came apart in the 2nd to third layers of plywood. The Bond of the resins held but like the glass composite tested the wood separated and failed. I could not see any better penetration of either resin into the wood and was very shallow if any. I now tend to use vinylester whenever I use chopped strand mat in a laminate as the styrene will break down the binder that holds the chop together.
That was fun.