Is this a Hickman Sled by Mako?

[Krauthammer]

The Mako website doesn't show the bottom of the boat but from the description and a side photo of the bow it could be a Hickman or some inverted V design.

http://www.mako-boats.com/boat/?boat=3483

Anybody has seen one of those in the flesh and are there more modern day Hickmans out there?

[PAR]

This is Mako's take on the sea sled design. It's been modified, like all of the off shoots of the Hickman, to address known issues of the type. She's been equipped with an anti sneeze rail and anti trip chines, but I haven't seen her bottom to see where the chines land, nor have I inspected one closely. There are several variants of the Hickman sea sled, most incorporate the things mentioned, but some try to be cute with things they don't need.

[BMcF]

Looks a lot like my favorite fishing skiff of all time..my 1964 Woodson. ;-) I've never owned a drier and more sea-capable boat near that size.

[Krauthammer]

A friend viewed one at a Mako dealership.
He reports an inverted V forward flanked by two shallow sponsons. Amidships the inverted V changes into a rounded V with a tunnel and continues as such to the transom at which point the sponsons have become large strakes. A succession of complex shapes to say the least.
BTW what is a 1964 Woodson?

[BMcF]

Woody woodson was a brilliant but eccentric inventor who came up with the 'inverted v' or cathdral hull.

[BMcF]

Originally Posted by Krauthammer

A friend viewed one at a Mako dealership.
He reports an inverted V forward flanked by two shallow sponsons. Amidships the inverted V changes into a rounded V with a tunnel and continues as such to the transom at which point the sponsons have become large strakes. ?

yup. Defiinitely just another of many Woodson copies over the last 50 years.

The outer sponsons disappear completely about on-third aft of the bow,

[Krauthammer]

"Dual Cathedral"! A new one on me. Thanks for bringing it up.

I like the forward steering console, apparently it run flat and had no problem getting up on plane.

Any other copies of the Woodson floating around? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one and playing with it.

[BMcF]

My first Woodson 18' was the 1964..I moved the console back to improve ride. The second Woodson I bought (and still have also) is a 1969 model which interestingly came with the console exactly where I had moved the first..and the fuel tank relocated from at the transom to be under the console.
My kids grew up learning to boat on the old Woodsons and still love it when they come back for a visit to the island and find that one is always ready for them to take off in for an hour or a weekend.

I run older 115HP Evinrudes 4's on both, btw, with a 19" wheel. That limits top speed to about 40 mph but makes for great takeoffs for skiing.


The Woodson was copied by several builders after the patent expired but I cannot name any right off the top of my head.

[Krauthammer]

Sounds like a great little skiff. Was Thunderbird one of the copies?

[Steve W]

Originally Posted by BMcF

Woody woodson was a brilliant but eccentric inventor who came up with the 'inverted v' or cathdral hull.

I think the inverted vee was generally credited to Albert Hickman in the early part of last century,at least he had the patents on it, the cathedral hull is different, more like an inverted W really i think, maybe Woodson invented that. Which is the Woodson?
Steve.

[Krauthammer]

Good info on the Woodson's provenience:

http://www.fiberglassics.com/library/Thunderbird

[PAR]

Woody didn't do anything more then steal Jackson's modified ideas on the Hickman model. The addition of protrusions was just an effort to solve several known issues, the biggest Hickman's staunch defense of his patents. All successful sleds have anti trip chines., making the hull look like a W, but it's still the inverted V form Hickman invented.

[BMcF]

Originally Posted by PAR

Woody didn't do anything more then steal Jackson's modified ideas on the Hickman model. The addition of protrusions was just an effort to solve several known issues, the biggest Hickman's staunch defense of his patents. All successful sleds have anti trip chines., making the hull look like a W, but it's still the inverted V form Hickman invented.

True. I know all that. But Woody's story and Woody's boats are what I've known and owned for a quarter century. C. Raymond's Whaler's..much the same deal.

Name the company that Hickman formed that mass-produced his design or variations of it.