sailboat skiff conversion

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14' Sunfish Custom

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I like.

Post a video. What is the hull speed?

What a great idea. I learned to sail on one of those; I haven't seen one in ages.

Great project, and as others have mentioned would like to know what speed you are getting and what size motor. Also, a few details on how you formed the split-tail would be interesting.

Good job, Nice personal skiff, and very Solo like....

Bump for additional info on horsepower / speed, cutting the transom details, and hopefully some pics while running....

Thanks everyone! Stern was cut, and transom glassed in to mount the motor. It's got a 3 hp 2stroke Yamaha on there now and she does 8-9mph. Having a hard time posting a video of her on the move....

put an older johnson/evinrude 4.5-6 hp two cylinder 2 stroke on it. it will plane.

Curtis: if I'm not mistaken ( and I frequently am ), I seem to remember from my sailing days some 50 years ago that a Sunfish was indeed quick to plane. ( ?? ) My question to the op: are you able to start the engine w/o having to get out of the boat to keep water from coming in?

They are quick to plane, but did you ever get one over 10kts?

Good news is most places I go even with total catastrophic failure I can walk back... It looks kind of like the cockpit might have been made larger, and I'm assuming the center-board slot was glassed over or water would come shooting up like a fountain (don't ask me how I know that). I must say its a very creative and sweet looking DIY project. Most guys with actual Solo's find the 3hp good and 6 overkill.

I wanted to try a sunfish 20+ years ago with my johnson 15hp. I bet it would have been a blast.

thats awesome. ive seen a coupe of those old small blow boats done up and by far this is the nicest looking one. what kind of draft numbers are you getting with it?

Bottom line is that this boat posted by the OP is friggin awesome and a cool option for those with some glass skills. The sunfish hulls are a quickly-planning and time-tested design and are still popular today for good reason. It's a shame that shedding some light on this topic and educating a reader on the qualities of these hulls makes someone throw his sucker in the dirt and stomp home. But anyway......As far as registering these boats, they have HINs like any other commercially produced vessel, and depending on who made the hull (AMF, Alcort, or Vanguard) and some of the HINs are actually on the side of the boat, not the transom. My neighbor has a sunfish that he put a trolling motor on (yuck), and to make it legal, he took a photo and a pencil rubbing of the HIN to the tag office, and they gave him a title/registration. Blam. Simple as that.

GSSF said: Bottom line is that this boat posted by the OP is friggin awesome and a cool option for those with some glass skills. The sunfish hulls are a quickly-planning and time-tested design and are still popular today for good reason. It's a shame that shedding some light on this topic and educating a reader on the qualities of these hulls makes someone throw his sucker in the dirt and stomp home. But anyway......As far as registering these boats, they have HINs like any other commercially produced vessel, and depending on who made the hull (AMF, Alcort, or Vanguard) and some of the HINs are actually on the side of the boat, not the transom. My neighbor has a sunfish that he put a trolling motor on (yuck), and to make it legal, he took a photo and a pencil rubbing of the HIN to the tag office, and they gave him a title/registration. Blam. Simple as that. Click to expand...

Great custom Sunfish skiff, I'm after a similar idea myself. Picked up a Sunfish sailer in decent condition off of Craigslist for $100. Needs a little TLC but should do just find. How stable are these to stand up on and can you share any pointers about the securing a solid transom?

I'm looking to make a modification like this to my sunfish hull. Anything you can provide on specs and tips wold be greatly appreciated. [email protected]

Do you have any pics of the before and during work? What are the 3 round white containers?

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12' tri-hull/jon boat conversion to micro skiff

Discussion in ' Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building ' started by biasedmind , Jun 21, 2018 .

biasedmind Junior Member

I was given a 1972 PFG 12' Car Topper with a trailer. The transom was rotten and I knew that when I accepted the project. Along with the boat and trailer I received a new in the box minn kota all water 50lb 12v trolling motor and a long tail mud motor. I live on the Gulf coast and want to use the boat to fish the marsh and shallow bays. My plan is to repair the transom and add a front cap so I can mount the trolling motor. So, I started looking at different micro skiffs and decided to open the tops of the 3 bench seats to remove the deteriorating flotation foam, plus remove a few rats nests. My original plan was frame some storage compartments along with flotation pods in the seats with ply and poly to control cost, but have since learned poly will not waterproof wood. I've decided I'm over engineering this skiff and trying to create something that will out live me with little maintenance. Now the plan is to do the transom and front cap (for trolling motor mount) in ply and epoxy resin. But I'm going back and forth on the best way to divide the seat compartments for storage and flotation pods while framing support for the seat top. To conserve cost I've been debating finishing the seats with sealed wood. I'm okay if the wood requires some annual maintenance plus the boat can be stored in the garage. Any recommendations on sealing the wood and top coat? Or would I be better off covering with cloth and epoxy resin? I'm trying not to turn this free boat into a $500 fiberglass project. Trying to keep the glass work down to $300.

PROPGUNONE Junior Member

I’d highly recommend epoxy, but only from past experience building wooden/glass skiffs. The ply takes it well. Always used RAKA personally, medium viscosity but if I did it again I’d use thin. The medium gets kind of gooey in any sort of cooler weather. Easy mix ratio too, don’t need pumps or anything, just some plastic cups and a sharpie and do the 2:1 thing. I’d pull all the seats if it was me, glass in fore and aft decks... maybe a floor to mount a cooler to. What’s under the floor in that thing... could be more wet foam.

You're looking at the floor. Its a single layer made on a mold. Only wood in the boat was the transom, top rail, and I think there is a strip in the keel.

I assumed the seats were structural and probably needed to support the sides. If they can come out know you have my mind spinning with flat deck possibilities.

I see what you’re saying... humps on the floor looked like there was something beneath it. Seats are probably structural, but if you pull them and square the hull up there should’nt be a problem with a flat deck and bulkheads.

Does anyone else agree I could remove the 3 seat, put a bulk head in the bow and stern and maintain structural strength? She's 12' bow to stern with a beam of 48".

Have you put this up over on microskiff? Lots of similar projects going on there.

I had not, I've been reading and fiberglass work and watching videos since I got the boat. This was the first group where I felt the advice was aimed at being helpful and not trolling some who knew less than yourself. Until you asked I don't think I'd searched the term microskiff to look for a dedicated forum. Still wouldn't mind hearing from the boat builders here.

Blueknarr Senior Member

biasedmind said: ↑ I had not, I've been reading and fiberglass work and watching videos since I got the boat. This was the first group where I felt the advice was aimed at being helpful and not trolling some who knew less than yourself. Until you asked I don't think I'd searched the term microskiff to look for a dedicated forum. Still wouldn't mind hearing from the boat builders here. Click to expand...

seaway84 New Member

biasedmind said: ↑ Does anyone else agree I could remove the 3 seat, put a bulk head in the bow and stern and maintain structural strength? She's 12' bow to stern with a beam of 48". Click to expand...

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Clancy New Member

Hi guys, I would love to know the make of this boat. I have a mold for it in Aus. If anyone knows that would be great.

Dusty Blackburn New Member

Clancy said: ↑ Hi guys, I would love to know the make of this boat. I have a mold for it in Aus. If anyone knows that would be great. View attachment 165524 Click to expand...