[Paddlewise] Spare the gelcoat -- pros & cons of skin-coat boats

While having a wide ranging conversation recently with a fellow sea
kayaking enthusiast, the person made a statement that surprised me a
fair bit.  They said that they've ordered their recent boats, whether
for race use or not, WITHOUT gelcoat (these are fiberglass or kevlar
composite boats).  Their justification was that gelcoat provides no
structural benefit to the boat, and going without it saves 5-8 lbs of
essentially useless weight.  When queried about what they did about
repairing the inevitable dings, they said they just used clear epoxy.

So, I got to wondering about the pros and cons of going with a skin-coat
hull (or hull and deck) configuration.  What do Paddlewise people think
of the idea?  Any direct experience with it?

Now I know that finishing the boat's exterior with gelcoat doesn't
improve the structural rigidity of the craft.  It does provide color, of
course, and I guess it protects the glass or kevlar fiber from UV
exposure (does current generation fiberglass and kevlar fabric NEED UV
protection?).  In the end, I guess it's a bit like applying 10-20 coats
of paint to a piece of wood.  It doesn't make the plank any stronger,
but if you give it (the plank) a good whack with screwdriver, you wind
up with a nice scratch (or worse) in the paint, but the integrity of the
wood will be preserved (which, I guess, is the real goal).

I also know that some in the industry, Tom Derrer of Eddyline among
them, have staked their reputation (and their business) on foregoing
gelcoat.  But even Eddyline's high-end "modulus" boats, which are vacuum
bagged glass/kevlar composites, still use a Carbonlite (polycarbonate?)
shell on the outside.

Well, enough prattle, what do you think of the idea?

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