Aluminum Skiff

Agreed. I work in the industry. I think the idea would be to invest in the composite tooling and sell boats to pay it off.

 

Be interested in seing what you come up with. Im always fascinated by hyper specialized designs.

 

Aluminum hull with Fiberglass liner and a keel cooled surface drive outboard is definitely a specialized design, but lots of theoretical designs would fit that.

Some shapes/styles that I am looking at...
Reuel Parkers 18 Dive Tender
Fibretech C-Ski-444
Solo Skiff Explorer 18
Hobie Power Skiff (I like the transom on the Hobie Power Fisherman better)
Saxdor 200

I like the open transom / nearly open transom with a foam filled bilge. For an ultralight boat it seems like the safest option in rougher water.

 

Been busy with work, but I still think about this project. I am leaning toward giving up the ProDrive 50. It is just too much work and too much weight.

I am leaning towards the 18hp Hangkai two-stroke. It is light, cheap, and quieter than an air cooled motor. If I wanted mud capabilities later, I could just buy a small air cooled motor to swap out depending on the mission. Buying both would likely still be cheaper than the single ProDrive 50, and running either one would be significantly lighter. If ProDrive releases a 20hp unit in the future, I could always retrofit.

I think 16 to 19ft with a 5ft beam. Warped bottom. Almost flat deadrise aft to more substantial deadrise forward. Flush deck with an open transom. 0.063" 5052 bottom and maybe 0.055" sides. I am planning a 6" grid for frames and stringers. The deck would be 0.063" with hat sections on 6" centers. Frames welded together and seams welded, but frames bonded to skin to prevent oil canning. Deck bonded to frames. I think I could get something simple around 200lbs before the motor. I think it would be cool to have a fiberglass liner, but may start with all aluminum for simplicity.

Honestly I think it would be very similar to the Solo Skiff Explorer series which is supposed to be coming out soon, just built with a lot lighter materials.

I went down a rabbit hole looking at aluminum pirogue builders in the bayou. They are mostly building square nose canoes for paddling or small motors. That isn't exactly what I want, but their thin gauge construction is a lot closer to my goal than a heavy 16ft Lowe. If nothing else, hiring a guy down there to do the welding would leave me confident in their ability to handle thin materials.

Always open to criticism. Hope everyone is enjoying a little downtime.

 

That narrow of a hull wouldn't support a 50 hp Pro Drive. It would be sketchy at best.

 

I think there is a misunderstanding. The photo above was just an example of the welding style I'm looking for (thin gauge aluminum), not the hull shape I'm building.

I agree that a PD50 on a 32" pirogue would be a death trap. However, the hull I'm planning is 16-19ft x 60in. In my opinion, a boat like that could handle 50hp just fine, but as I mentioned in the post, I'm pivoting to a lightweight 18hp outboard anyway to keep the draft as shallow as possible.

 

A 5 foot bottom will make all the difference in the world. If i were you, I'd go 18 feet in length.

I apologize for misunderstanding.