Rolf, any stripped material is going to provide limited hoop strength, simply due to the fact that you are relying on the tensile strength of the resin between strips.

PTP, yes the material properties of timber and carbon are different, as are carbon/foam etc. The trick is to engineer the structure to make sure each component is not asked to contribute any more strength than it is capable of. I did quite a bit of work many moons ago with a company who were building carbon masts for offshore racing boats in a very similar fashion to what we are doing here. I know they built a mast for at least one 66' pocket maxi.

Peel ply definately reduces the need to sand but doesn't eliminate it. Leave it on for as long as possible, ie take it off when the job is done or when and if required to access an area for secondary bonding.