Just imagine…
…how strong it would be if it was made of better materials and still weighed the same?
I own two Valley boats myself…
…and have owned a total of four. The layups varied with the vintage, but they were/are primarily matt. The new ones are all cloth, except for the deck fittings and compass recess. They’re also considerably lighter. I can’t justify getting rid of perfectly usable boats just to get something new, so I’ll live with the limitations of the older layups and keep repairing them as necessary.
Localized vs. wider area damage
That’s not the only choice. The truth is that the resilience of cloth layups often results in no damage from hits that would likely damage a more rigid matt layup.
Necky composite
I’m starting to have second thoughts about the theoretical advantages of max glass/resin ratios for some hull shapes. With knit cloths and infusion molding the laminate gets pretty thin, in the case of the Chatham 17 hull bottom it may be pretty strong but the hull has some flat sections that ring with some pounding in the waves. You can see the deck vibrate.
I fixing up my old Express that’s made with 24oz roving (I assume) and even though it’s full of cracks it’s still usable.
It’s surprising to find out that some of the Brit boats us polyester instead of vinylester resin
yes, i know …
but they have enough trouble making a decent boat with lesser quality glass … imagine the problems if working with the good stuff. 
when i ordered the Looksha II
i told the dealer that i would weigh it when upon delivery, if greater than 5% of the advertised weight he could keep it…maybe that is why i had to wait over 6 months to get it 