Well, I'll find out how well those carbon/Kevlar gunnels hold up over time. Bill must believe it's a reliable setup because I've seen other Swift carbon solo canoes with similar seat drops. I think the key is that the drops provide some reinforcement between the gunnels and the seat rails. The one piece drops are shaped to fit right up against the gunwale and help stabilize the forces. The thwarts are attached in the same way so it must work but It's fairly easy to over tighten the bolts and the gunnel starts to compress/collapse. I suppose a larger diameter washer might help but we each weigh less than 150 lbs so I'm not worried.