PackRat,
I have check the hull flex with my 2x4's several times so far. Most notably was after I swapped the trailer out for the one it's on now and before I built the template for the deck. I would say it has flexed very little but I did have the top cap on it to take some measurements and it went back on pretty easily. After seeing your post I slapped them on last night just to be sure.
I got the top cap flipped over and started grinding and sanding to prepare for the last couple layers of matt. I would say the painters tape that I had put on to keep resin from sticking to areas of gelcoat that had already been ground down was a good thing. I believe it helped prevent much more sanding. I'll use it again on the bottom for the next application.
Some time ago I cut the gunnels to what I thought I wanted but after taking more measurements I'm going to trim them again. You can see near the transom will start at 4".
And be around 7" where the transition to the forward deck is made.
A couple of questions.
1) Did the original Potters come with rod holders in the gunnels? I didn't think so but on each side the top cap looks like it was laid up to accept the top radius of the rodholder.
2) Can the same fairing compounds, cabosil, admixtures, etc. be used in Polyester that is used in Epoxy?