Here's The true Sea Sled Story, circa1985

Hi Scott,

Welcome to the forum.

Have you had this boat in the water?
How does it ride?

You mentioned you replaced the transom, when, before you bought it?

Can you show us the hull bottom from the front?
Like your other front shot but lower the camera and move closer to fill the frame.
Is that a Jaguar parked beside the trailer?

Cheers

 

I reread the original posts. It was painful. So much skill, so little understanding. Hickman didn't solve the cavitation problem by inventing the surface piercing prop. He invented that 3 years before he invented the sea sled. He solved the problem by always using 2 props, so they avoid the shaving cream coming out of the middle of the transom.

I'm frankly astonished that even a beginner would make that error, let alone folks with skill and experience he described. It breaks my heart.

 

|"and a 62 ft Sea Sled which was the first platform to launch an aircraft off its deck ,thus I believe making it the first American Aircraft carrier.
The 65ft Sea Sled maintained 62 knots ,and the Biplane was able to power off the deck."

Very interesting. I've been thinking about a SWATH micro-carrier that could hit burst speed of 100 knots with short duration jet or even rocket power and thus enable it to recover standard fixed wing aircraft.

 

G'Day. Thanks for your post. I'm really keen to try and track down some history on this hull or at least identify where it came from. The gauge has 400 hours on it. The motor needed a stator and a few bits and pieces but the wiring was good. It has some of that oxidation you get from salt but not much and that port on the leg where put the flushing thing has plenty of wear. Looks like it's been cared for mostly. I haven't got it in the water yet and I am a complete novice. I bought the boat on eBay from a guy who picked up at an insurance auction - apparently it had been sitting in police impound for some time prior to this (hence the lack of winch, anchor, bimini etc etc....police impound can be extremely "weight reducing"). The guy working on the motor, "Mr Miyagi" of Outboards on Bribie Island (well that's my name for him), currently has the motor in his grotto (it's so much more than a simple workshop) and he reckons we'll get the thing up and reliable in the next couple of weeks. As mentioned in my last post, we've just replaced the transom (looks awesome - makes the rest of the boat look desperate now...won't be long).

 

Hi Bluebell,

I'll try and make that shot you have asked for before I upload this and I'll show you the new transom. I bought the boat then had the transom replaced. That is a Jag - the photo was one from the ad I saw that I bought the boat from - it's at the guy who I bought the boat from's place - it's beyond repair and rusting into the driveway. I think the guy had a lot of optimism and dreams.

 

Oh and I should say I haven't had the boat in the water yet, still bringing it up to safely being able to....also I should mention that I was compelled to bring this boat back from the brink - I've never owned a boat before and don't even have a boat licence - I saw it, read about Hickman and went "Yep, this one deserves to be awesome again"

 

Fantastic!

Thanks for those shots and added info.
Huge improvement. Transom looks great!

Take some steadicam footage when you go out!
And make sure you clean out the fuel tank well beforehand.

Can you level the camera lens with the top of the trailer rail so we can
see the perspective of the bottom chine, keel chine, skegg,
the bottom of the boat that contacts the rollers.

 

Hi Again,

I don't know if I have captured what you were looking for but these are the photos I made

 

Scott, I'm building a Sea Sled myself. I'm really interested in what yours can do. Mine is still a year away.

 

got pics of plans?

Looks like these could done with simple bending of flat sheets of metal or plywood, AKA "develop-able"

 

Yes, totally developable.

I have no plans. Did the lines myself, and used Dave Gerr's scantlings.

 

Early in my thread there's a photo of lines. Sections. Although I derived offsets from 3 longitudinal curves.

 

Hi DogCalvary,

While I was researching about my boat I found a set of full plans available on eBay - I'm still not 100% that mine comes from somewhere like this:

EZ Build HICKMAN TYPE SEA SLED HOME BUILT HULL DESIGN BOAT PLAN 31 new | eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/EZ-Build-HICKMAN-TYPE-SEA-SLED-HOME-BUILT-HULL-DESIGN-BOAT-PLAN-31-new-/254348513174

Pretty good investment I reckon - for US$6

 

Hi Again,

Actually, I just tried to buy the plans and, frustratingly, they don't ship to Australia and the seller doesn't accept messages. I was thinking he could forget about the CD and just upload to DropBox or similar. If any of you blokes in the US/Canada want to pay the $6 and then upload to DropBox, I'll pay.

 

Hi Scott. He’s quite the salesman. Sounds like he should be selling genuine Bunyip toenails and Nargun scales. But if his plans are good, that’s great.
If you wanted to buy plans I also recommend the plans for sale at bateau.com for the TX-18. They included lines and panel plans for a Hickman Sea Sled from around 1954. I got them instantly as a .zip file.

Of course you already have a sled. That puts you ahead of the game. If I, as a complete stranger, can make a suggestion, I’d say: consider going with twin engines if possible. The air and foam that give the sled it’s efficiency and lift come out under the transom, right in the middle. A single outboard will have a hard time working in those conditions.