The other 55′ plywood/epoxy daycharter cat on Lake Tahoe recently went on the rocks and was ordered destroyed.
As a Searunner it had 1-1/4″ thick solid wood skin which always amazed me. The compression strength of the first layer is still the same. And with that much weight, the damage has to be more.
What kind of failure mode(s) would thickness not matter given compression strength of the first layer is still the same? This seems to be what is implied.
compression strength perpendicular to grain, like a rock hitting, is some 200 to 300 psi no matter how thick it is. Once you break that first layer, time for a haulout. Excess thickness adds more M to the F=MA so a crash hurts more than if the skin was say 3/8″.