Boat Concept, Idea, and Plan

I am fairly new to boat building, but want to take on a project. I don't know how realistic/hard it would be to make this boat, and if I am going it about it wrong. So here it is. I want to build and aluminum boat. The plan I drew seems to put the boat at about 35 ft. I want it to be able to go in shallow water. Big rivers and lakes pretty much. I was planning on starting by building the frame using 1x1 inch aluminum tubing. What are the major advantages of a V hull, or a flat bottomed boat? What would it be worthy to do? Great lakes? Please be as forward and possible and critique the plan and give me suggestions and thoughts. Here is the boat.

 

Read first some books of Ted Brewer, Dave Gerr and others, just check http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/boat-design-book-23551.html and pick some.. In a week or two you know much more and might find out few flaws in you sketches by yourself
BR Teddy

 

.... and you will need a lot better Cad tools than Sketchup

 

I'll check out those books out.

 

And allmost forgot... Welcome to BD forums

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to finding out all the necessary info. Would anyone be able to give me a quick answer on the flat bottom vs the V hull? And, what kind of HP would you need?

 

.....and how much does a Cummins Mercruiser Qb59 run?

 

The vee bottom will ride easier and pound less. The flat bottom will pound and make more noise but it will need somewhat less power for a given speed. The flat bottom is easier to build but it will need more reinforcement on the interior than the vee bottom. The vee will need reinforcement in the form of frames and longitudinals but not as much or as many as a flat bottom for an equal chine beam.

The flat bottom will draw less water than the vee if weight is the same. The flattie will sit on the beach nicely while the vee will tend to tip toward port or starboard when on the hard. The flattie will be easier to load and unload from a trailer in many ramp circumstances. Building trailer bunks is also easier than for the vee. The flattie will generally have more usable floor space too.

Keep your boat as light as possible, consistent with adequate strength. Weight will be a major determinant for power requirement.

Tell us how fast you think you need to go, then we can better weigh in on your bottom selection as well as required power.

 

Thanks a ton for your reply Sir!

I'm thinking of making the boat 8 ft wide, and about 30 ft long. I mostly want to use it for inland lakes, rivers, and weather permitting, a great lake. I was planning on using 1" x 1" square aluminum tubing to build the frame. Would that work? As far as the weight goes, I'm not sure what the turnout would be. I don't care to go terribly fast, I just want a large, comfortable, open boat. I would be happy to go 10 knots. I wouldn't mid going faster depending on the cost of a bigger motor. What are your thoughts?

 

I can not understand why you want a boat so big for running lakes and rivers. It makes no sence to me. The extra length adds a lot of cost and wheight.

Start again with careful thinking and set a start point for your research. Length? Horsepower? Desired Speed? Number of People aboard?

You should not design by yourself. It is obvious that you haven't done this before. Choose a well proven plan from a designer. If you know what you want, there will be help from this forum for suitable designs

Grrreetings from the North Sea Coast, Michel



How many people on board?

 

Well, The reasoning for size is simple. I pretty much want a mobile deck, I don't want a pontoon boat either. There are hundreds of good sized inland lakes in MI where a 25+ boat isn't uncommon. And, I just want to build something big.