1979 22’ Kencraft Restore Design Help

All,

Just picked a hull up with hopes of a full restore. It currently sits at 22 foot with a 7.5 foot beam and had a well mounted outboard. There is also a 12 foot tunnel. My goals are to make it a transom mounted boat with a jack plate. I know I need a new transom and stringers in order for it to work but I do have other worries. Any comments or input would be great.

1) Center of gravity. By moving the outboard to the transom the center of gravity would shift. Could this be fixed by moving the fuel tank and batteries forward?
2) Tunnel length. I have not seen a production boat with a 12 foot tunnel. Would a tunnel this long cause problems? Also how much effect will this have on drag?
3) Buoyancy. By having a long tunnel I am losing hull that would add extra float. Is this something to take into consideration or would it be negligible?

Thanks again for any help or advice.

 

Welcome to the Forum Ridgewood.

That looks like a very ambitious project that you have there.
Have you managed to find out any details as to how the boat performed with the outboard engine in the well?
The well looks fairly far forward - what is the distance from the engine attachment transom in the well, and the hull transom further aft?
And why do you now want to put the engine on a jack plate?
Are you hoping to significantly improve the performance?
Re the tunnel, I would think that it suits the engine in the well - but it would be even more work to 'fill it in' in order to get some more planing surface, and the buoyancy increase is not going to be a lot relatively.
I was trying to find some info on Kencraft boats online, but I could only find much newer boats.

 

Bajansailor,

Thanks for the reply! Last time the boat was ran it had a 90 HP and the owner said it handled well. The distance from well to transom is 5’-6” currently. I want to put the engine on a jack plate so I can take full advantage of the tunnel and run as shallow as possible.