76 Sleekcraft transformation to flats boat

[FlatSleek]

I've been wanting to build a fast flats boat for a few years now and finally took the plunge, I started looking around in June of 09 for a hull that would make a decent fishing platform, found this one local on Craigslist in Oct. 09, the guy started at $ 3,000.00, finally got it in Nov. for $ 1,000.00 with a nice alum. trailer, now the fun begins, really hated to cut up a classic, got the sawzall out and started with the deck leaving about 2" of the outer edge, then the floor and stringer, there wasn't much left of either one, because of the rocker design of the center pod all the water sat in the center of the boat away from the transom which is made of mahogany plywood and is still solid after all these years, for some reason they enclosed each end and of course water always finds a way in but couldn't get out, there was some nasty chit growing under there lucky for me the wood was so rotted it just peeled right off the top of the tunnels, parts of the stringer were deteriorated to little more than sawdust, after all that and a little cleaning up she was ready to go to the fiberglass shop, but not before a few sketches, quite a few in fact, from the start the main requirement was plenty of easily accessable under deck rod storage, the last thing you want at high speeds are fishing rods with lures and treble hooks exposed, so there will be 15 rod tubes for up to 9 foot rods under the 11 foot long front deck, actually 2 of them will keep the 18 foot 2 piece push pole off the deck, plus it doesn't get used near as much as the trolling motor, usually only when you're trying to sneak up on the fish in very shallow water, I will also have 4 rod holders on the poling platform at the back of the boat for going from spot to spot, might need some bungee cords on those to keep the rods from being sucked out by the negative pressure at the back of the boat another requirement was a small cockpit to leave large decks/fishing area especially at the front since this is where you spend about 90% of your time on a flats boat, the 11 foot front deck has plenty of room for three anglers, the gunnels will taper from 16" wide at the front of the cockpit to 11" at the rear and the rear deck will be 4 feet forward of the transom with a 20 gallon livewell/cooler under it, three seats across, small center console with seat on front of it and 12 gallon livewell/cooler built in to it, also going to do a larger pad with a built in setback of 8 inches or so on the bottom to accomidate 2 livewell pickups and hopefully improve the speed and handling, so far Rich has all the strigers, bulkheads, floor, rear livewell, livewell drains, rigging tubes, etc. cut and dry fit, just waiting for a couple of nice days to glass it all in, it's been the coldest winter here in 20 years I got lucky and found a nice 2000 300 ProMax with a 1.75 torquemaster in December, merry Christmas to me from me sea star pro, 6" Bobs hydraulic, going to get some 12"x 18" lenco trim tabs for the top of the tunnels, oh chit did I say trim tabs hey I got an excuse, it's a Fishin Bote got a few props - 2 unidentified 26 p 4 blades, one thats been mildly labbed and the other was free with an Alien cowl I bought, also an older large hub trophy 26 p and a Pro E.T. 28 p, would like to try a Drag 4 and quad 4 OB also, it's getting late, gotta work in the morning, heres a few pics, there's more if you click on albums in my profile, would someone please let me know if you can access them, I'm not sure if I did it correctly I'll post more pics soon. THANKS TO SCREAM & FLY AND THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR HELP

[BUSHWACKER]

I just clicked on all of them, worked fine

[FlatSleek]

Thanks for checking that BUSHWACKER, My brother and I were up your way this past Sunday just north of the outflow canal, got my azz kicked four to nothing, 20", 24", 26" and 28" redfish and saw a few more, I've still got the "Redfish Curse" since November when a 34 incher inhaled my big topwater plug so deep the rear hook was down past his crushers, he didn't make it and I've been fishing about 8 times since then and only caught 1 small Trout, been lots of fish brought on board, just not by me, maybe this new boat will help change my luck, BTW I live in New Port Richey, if you're into fishing let me know, maybe we can meet up and spend a few hour on the water, I do most of my fishing in your area from about Chaz to Yankeetown,actually I've been thinking about moving up that way , it's getting a litttle crowded around here. Thanks.

Lenny

[BUSHWACKER]

I just saw your post. 4am Glad to be of help.
I'm at the very north end of CR in Red Level, sent ya a p/m with my info.

[Tom Foley]

Looks nice , let me know if you need a Casting or Poling platform !
http://www.marinespecialties.com/

[Da Bull]

Everything looks good but i bet you trade that 6" plate for more set back. Sleek`s allways needed alot of help getting the bow up and thats the reason for the rocker bottom. Anytime i saw a Mod-VP Sleek Craft that ran good it had some serious set back.

DB

[native2]

Looks great! I love projects like this. I have done a few... Should be a shallow/stable ride. Here is my flats boat project. Took 2 years to complete. Notice the high speed water pickups for livewells. Yours will be faster than mine Mine has seen 84 with a 28 chopper. Or 82 with the 27 tempest I usually run for fishing.
http://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...ght=flats+boat

[FlatSleek]

Thanks for the compliments and input

Bushwacker I didn't get the PM for some reason, if you would, please try again, Thanks. Sorry I did get the PM, it wasn't showing in the notification box, Thanks.

Tom I might be in the market for a casting platform soon, I've seen some of your aluminum work, very nice I'll give you a call when I'm ready and BTW I can't wait to meet up with everyone at the Suwannee

DB from what I've read the Sleeks do need lots of setback, as much as 15 to 18 inches but draft is a major concern, especially with the hippo on the back, I'll probably end up with about 10 inches, I know this might sound a little crazy but I've been thinking about stacking a 4 inch Bobs hyraulic on the 6 inch hydraulic for a total of 12 inches of lift for idiling through the shallow waters, there's alot of rocks where I fish, I've got a portabracket with 21 inch setback and 17 inches of lift on my tower boat, I love it, I can idle with the skeg even with the bottom of the boat, the 6 inch will only be used when idiling so it would be like using a 4 inch hydraulic on a 6 inch fixed plate other than the very small amount of movement in the slide on the 6 inch, if I end the new pad 8 inches ahead of the transom that will give me 18 inches of setback total or 14 inches with only the 6 inch, what do you think about the built in setback, does it help as much as true setback ?

Native that boat is SWEET, I've been on that thread a few times, looks great with the big XS on it, this is my first major rebuild, I've done a couple others but not as in depth as this one, I hope the draft and stability will be good, I've devoted quite a few hours to design, layout and weight placement but as you know the load and conditions are constantly changing on a flats boat, I figured most of the weight placement issues with a light to medium load and fairly calm water for the best top speed, the trim tabs should compensate for other loads and conditions, I like those high speed pickups, do you know where to buy them ? as far as the speed goes, I'd like to see 85 to 90 and still have a good holeshot but I've read that the Sleeks kind of hit a wall at about 80 or so and also get a little flighty when pushed past that point, maybe with the tunnel tabs, some pad work, the 300 and the rest of the setup right it might suprise me and hit 100 probably just wishful thinking though I haven't looked at the for sale threads in a couple of days but last I saw, the Rebel Yell was still for sale, the economy really sucks that boat should've been sold in a couple days, looks super clean, love the paint and that motor is too clean to be that old the new one must be sweet to make you sell the Rebel Yell, what is it ?

[BUSHWACKER]

On here I resent the info.

[FlatSleek]

Some progress on the Sleek, the top deck is on, rod tubes are in, hatches are next, finish the fairing compound and a little sanding, then its getting flipped for the new pad and Kawasaki green paint and clearcoat then flip it back over and install the center console then paint the deck white last, got the jackplate back from the powder coating shop last week, turned out very nice, the pic doesn't show the color very well, I think it will look cool the same color as the hull, since I've made up my mind on the color can someone tell me how to remove the poll from this thread and thanks for the opinions everyone

[XstreamVking]

Your boat is looking real good. Were you able to use the l/w p/u boxes? Any idea what the complete weight might be? Waters getting warmer down here and the reds are starting to school...Finally, my flats boat is getting some use. Coooold winter...Come on summer!!!! BTW I'm one of the nuts that voted kawasaki green... Make sure when you paint the deck to use a off white to help with the glare. Use a good aggressive non-skid also for safety...

[Da Bull]

what do you think about the built in setback, does it help as much as true setback ?

That would be a testing thing but i think your gonna be ok. I`m not sure i like the idea of one hydrolic plate riding piggy back on another. That puts alot of pressure on the first one.

DB

[FlatSleek]

Your boat is looking real good. Were you able to use the l/w p/u boxes? Any idea what the complete weight might be? Waters getting warmer down here and the reds are starting to school...Finally, my flats boat is getting some use. Coooold winter...Come on summer!!!! BTW I'm one of the nuts that voted kawasaki green... Make sure when you paint the deck to use a off white to help with the glare. Use a good aggressive non-skid also for safety...

Thanks, still not sure on exact design of the p/u box, there's not much room in the bilge area but I think it will be at the rear in the notch and not on the new pad, the main reason is to keep the trash out of the pumps if the boat bumps soft bottom, the pad will probably end up less than an inch thick and will stop 8 to 10 inches ahead of the transom, I think it should get plenty of water up to 60 mph or so, I don't use live bait that often and with the chop on the Gulf I don't want rough up the Whitebait at high speeds anyway, the claimed weight from Sleekcraft is about 950 lbs and I'm hoping it comes in a little under that, maybe 850? when the boat was gutted, guessing 450 lbs, two guys could lift it without bustin a nut and I'm thinking we've added another 400 or so, the Kawasaki green is an obnoxious color but I think it will be cool on this hull, 10-4 on the off white and the non skid, my brother made those mistakes a couple years ago when he painted his 20' Twin Vee, you couldn't look at it without dark glasses and you'd bust your ass without boat shoes, we've been seeing alot of big reds and they're starting to eat, the pic is from Easter Sunday at Anclote Island, saw him tailing, my bro poled me toward him, I made a good cast (got lucky ) twitched the Skitterwalk a couple times and he nailed it, 29", 9 lbs, probably saw about 40 reds in the 24 to 30 inch range that day but most of em outsmarted us as usual, another Great day on the water

[FlatSleek]

That would be a testing thing but i think your gonna be ok. I`m not sure i like the idea of one hydrolic plate riding piggy back on another. That puts alot of pressure on the first one.

DB

Pretty sure the pad will have about 8 to 10 inch notch and I got a 10" Bobs hydraulic, with the motor mounted high on the plate it should be enough lift, to bad the 17" Porta bracket is so heavy, its got 12" of lift but it weighs about 60 lbs or so. can't wait to do some testing

[Mr. Demeanor]

Bump from the past:
Flats your boat is making the rounds on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2570..._comment_reply

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1412...1&notif_t=like