Sweet Specmar. There is one running up and down the Fraser. 23' Sitka sportfisher I think. Looks like the exact one on the specmar website. Does you boat ride nice?
Aluminum Design from AUS
- Thread starter tbeatm
- Start date
Tomfoolery
Active Member
Thanks. Yeah, Patrick at Specmar told me a good many of them are up in Alaska and I haven't seen any here in the Nanaimo area yet. The hull was the big wildcard for me as it is very different from say a Cope but it rides extremely well for being less of a deadrise than most traditional westcoast designs. It has a ski at the stern and the hull is variable deadrise and somewhat rounded off along the length so it comes down nice and gently in all but the biggest water. I can't go quite as fast as my previous power cat in steep chop, and it is a rougher ride than the cat, but its within 3 or 4 knots. Overall, I am pretty happy with it. There are 'things' that I would change in retrospect but for what I packed in there (stand up head, galley, berth, fridge, dinette) in under 25' and easily trailerable ticked all the boxes of what I wanted. A couple build pics that show the hull design.
Rain City
Crew Member
That's a lot of stuff packed into such a small package!
Pineapple Express
Well-Known Member
Can you explain the ski part? Any pics?
Tomfoolery
Active Member
Yeah, it's a delta pad. I just got to calling it a ski and stuck to it!
Tomfoolery
Active Member
As Brando said it's just a delta pad where the vee is flattened out at the stern. You can see it in the stern pic above.
Tomfoolery
Active Member
It's a bit like a swiss army knife the way everything fits together. I guess we will see when we do some overnighters this season if we can stand each other after a few nights! We call it boat camping because even though we have the luxuries, it is still a small space with no extra room to lounge, except out on the back deck.
Max123
Well-Known Member
How do you find the delta pad. On mine, I've noticed that mine has a weird sweet spot. Up to about 32mph it rides normally, but doesn't like to be trimmed out very much or it will start to porpoise. Above 35mph and it really starts to fly, no porpoising and I can trim it much more aggressively. I assume this is a quirk of how the hull performs when it starts to ride on the pad.
Tomfoolery
Active Member
To be honest, I haven't really noticed much difference so far, but I have been more concerned with propping correctly to this point so haven't run it all that fast. I usually putter along at around 20-22 knots which gives me a fuel burn of around 9-9.5 gph. I have a new set of props on there and I will go do a full WOT and workup to see where my optimal speed/fuel burn lies one of these days. But further to your question, I have been thinking that maybe with running twins the benefit of the delta pad is somewhat negated. The sister ship to mine that was completed a while back was outfitted with a single 300 Yami and it absolutely flies! Faster than me and less fuel burn. I think there is some talk that a single works better with a delta pad the way the prop lines up with the pad and you get lift off the pad and the prop in line with the pad. I don't know enough about the delta pad though to talk about it intelligently. I did however have to raise my outboards up two notches higher than where I thought they should sit and depending on how the summer goes I may put a set of Permatrims on to give me just a tiny bit more lift at the stern, but not sure I really need them at this point. My WOT prior to these new props gave me 40mph and I think the other boat with the 300 was doing high 40's, so quite a difference and I bet that pad is making a sizeable difference at those speeds.
Max123
Well-Known Member
Interesting, along similar lines, I had to raise the outboard on my Jasper to the top mounting holes. When I got the boat it was on the second hole and 'looked right' (bottom of hull was roughly level with underside of anti-cav plate), but at speed the anti-cav plate was absolutely buried and I could feel it dragging. I raised it twice, going up one hole at a time. I hadn't considered that the delta pad might be the reason I needed to move it up so much.
Getting the mounting height correct is the single biggest improvement any boater can do - and its remarkable how few people do it (and how many boats are setup wrong when they were originally rigged). People start playing with props, or adding fins way too early. get the engine mounted right, everything else after.
Tomfoolery
Active Member
Yeah, really interesting that you had a similar experience with your mounting height as well. When I sea trialled, I could feel the drag and the boat felt sluggish and there were rooster tails coming off the mounting bolts. The dealer here in town thought I was crazy to raise two holes when it seemed to be in the correct position as it was with the anti cav plate lined up to the bottom of the hull, but those two holes made a huge difference. Since I raised the engines I have been through a couple sets of props to find the right combo as the SeaPros I am running are geared a bit lower and lower revving than the regular variants. I can turn hard over at speed and in certain conditions of a bit of slop I start to get a hint of cavitation on the outside engine, so I think I am in the sweet spot now for height. I have learned a lot about systems with this build and still learning every day.
Your boat looks awesome. I really did look at their designs closely before getting my smalll Cope to build. Specmar were good to talk to. I bought their book on boat building in Aluminum. Very good to have. I think Specmar used to be Almar. Same people. I hope you have a great season on yours.
Bifmalibu
Well-Known Member
Tuna 21 Sport Cabin - Conrad Yachts
At Conrad Yachts, we specialize in designing unique aluminum sport fishing boats, we design aluminum boat kits, custom aluminum boats, welded aluminum boats, custom aluminum cruising boats, custom aluminum yachts, custom aluminium power yachts and boats.
conradyachts.com
These look pretty sweet.
Rain City
Crew Member
I saw your boat today! Man she's nice. Congrats
Tomfoolery
Active Member
Thank you! I always joke to my wife that I am headed out to see my mistress.
You must have been at the pub!
Rain City
Crew Member
I was actually over there looking at a boat. I don't think I'll ever settle on one, that way I can keep traveling around the coast eating at great pubs. Took the Hullo and then Harbour Air today. It's not a bad gig, if only I was getting paid!Thank you! I always joke to my wife that I am headed out to see my mistress.
For someone thinking of a build thread topics like this are extremely helpful.
Beyond the value and virtues of an aluminum boat build the ability to accomodate one's physical requirements/limitations is a very attractive benefit.
At 6'4" and I had a few ergonomic criteria that a production boat would be unable to satisfy.
1)I wanted to have a cabin door that I could walk thorough without hitting my head.
2) I wanted to have a V-Berth that allowed me to sleep comfortably.
3) Higher than standard gunnel height (6" higher) so that I have the safety and security normally denied to tall people on smaller boats. Interestingly, when we take friends out for a ride, without fail, the women notice this enhanced gunnel height immediately and positively comment on it. I am nearly 70 and my days of climbing chairlift towers and practising lift evacuations are decades behind me.
4) V-Berth hatch size. Thanks to my scrounging cardboard sheeting from behind Future Electronics I was able to try construct different V Berth hatch size openings, and spec the one that could, if required, be the emegency exit that would allow my "quick" escape. 24" x 24"
5. Continous Flat floor. People seem to be able to step over a cabin door ledge without tripping once it is pointed out to them. I have seen a lot of people fall up and down over a single cabin step.
6. Robert did a great job installing hand holds/rails all over the boat.The higher gunnel rails are perfect handholds
7.Things I would want to talk to Robert about if I was building our boat anew:
a) explore the pros and cons of increasing the beam to 10 feet( we won't /don't trailer and the extra beam would greatly enhance the livability of the boat) We go out for 10- 12 days staying at Marina's or on the hook.
That would increase cabin storage space, allow for more dash space, provide more options for 4 passenger seating, and Yeti Cooler placement on the aft deck.
On very windy days the high bow of our boat is a bit of a sail and docking can be a bit more challenging. A bow thruster would have been a nice addition for the dozen or so times a year when the wind is stupid gusty.
It would be interesting to hear what folks who have done a build would do differently after living with their boat.
Beyond the value and virtues of an aluminum boat build the ability to accomodate one's physical requirements/limitations is a very attractive benefit.
At 6'4" and I had a few ergonomic criteria that a production boat would be unable to satisfy.
1)I wanted to have a cabin door that I could walk thorough without hitting my head.
2) I wanted to have a V-Berth that allowed me to sleep comfortably.
3) Higher than standard gunnel height (6" higher) so that I have the safety and security normally denied to tall people on smaller boats. Interestingly, when we take friends out for a ride, without fail, the women notice this enhanced gunnel height immediately and positively comment on it. I am nearly 70 and my days of climbing chairlift towers and practising lift evacuations are decades behind me.
4) V-Berth hatch size. Thanks to my scrounging cardboard sheeting from behind Future Electronics I was able to try construct different V Berth hatch size openings, and spec the one that could, if required, be the emegency exit that would allow my "quick" escape. 24" x 24"
5. Continous Flat floor. People seem to be able to step over a cabin door ledge without tripping once it is pointed out to them. I have seen a lot of people fall up and down over a single cabin step.
6. Robert did a great job installing hand holds/rails all over the boat.The higher gunnel rails are perfect handholds
7.Things I would want to talk to Robert about if I was building our boat anew:
a) explore the pros and cons of increasing the beam to 10 feet( we won't /don't trailer and the extra beam would greatly enhance the livability of the boat) We go out for 10- 12 days staying at Marina's or on the hook.
That would increase cabin storage space, allow for more dash space, provide more options for 4 passenger seating, and Yeti Cooler placement on the aft deck.
On very windy days the high bow of our boat is a bit of a sail and docking can be a bit more challenging. A bow thruster would have been a nice addition for the dozen or so times a year when the wind is stupid gusty.
It would be interesting to hear what folks who have done a build would do differently after living with their boat.
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