Good points. "Old" sailors have commented that today's boats suffer pressure dings much more easily then "old school" boats, and I presume this is due to the cored nature of the hulls.

Of course, "old school" boats are probably the reason most "old" sailors have back problems!

Is there a good reference on composite materials (other than the ISO manual) that could be used (such as kevlar) to add a bit more ding resistance but still keep the weight lighter than solid fiberglass hulls?

And have they improved the bonding between foam core and glass? The surveyor photographed several cases from well respected power boat builders where a particular product line (boat model/class) had issues with poor core/glass bonding, despite the use of various bonding agents.

I think the surveyor said that it's no use to add carbon to the e-glass unless you add enough carbon to assume the whole load (he was speaking in regard to chainplate anchoring). I think I follow his logic on that, as I presume if the glass separates, there won't be enough carbon fibre to carry the load, increasing likelihood of failure.