Fiberform

IslandJet

Member
Any thoughts about a 24' Fibreform with a 302 merc. Is the boat too light for west coast fishing....will it get tossed around like a bobbing cork?
Thanx for any input
 
I had a 22.5' Fiberform with a command bridge back in the 90's.

Basically a good boat.

My only comment would be about the motor. I found that a 302 Ford motor is not the best thing to have in a boat. (I had the same motor/IO combo).

My last boat had a 350 Chevy motor and Volvo Duo-Prop - way better!

I just found the 302 to be underpowered for this size of boat.

As for size, you should find it to be a good west coast boat. Just don't exceed the boat's abilities.
 
The first BIG boat that I guided out of was a brand new 1974 24' with the 302 with a Volvo outdrive. It needed about 300lbs of lead in the front berth, when it was really rough, then the lead would bang around up front. It would tail slip quite badly, unless you were able to keep it directly into the oncoming sea. Which, because of the hull design was extremely hard to do at slower speeds!
I now realize that the boat was greatly under powered, but that's the way it came from the factory.
It also had several issues with Selinoids!
 
I have a 1974 24 ft ,but it has been upgraded to a 351 Ford Windsor with an alpha drive. This is the first time I have heard this boat referred to as light. I only have two negative comments. One, it is only a 8 foot beam and tends to roll quite a bit if trolling sideways to the waves and two, although mine will cruise all day at 30 mph and has a top speed of about 40mph, it took me a few different prop tries to get to that and have it come up onto plane easily. I`m afraid that 302 would have to be propped just right to get it up reasonably quick and your top speed would be cut down considerably.
 
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