Laser sailboat to duckboat

[Mike Tolley]

Has anyone converted a laser sailboat to a duckboat? I see posts about using a sunfish but nothing definite about a laser. I have an old damaged one and want to convert it to a duckboat. Has anyone done this?
Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Steve Sanford]

Mike~

I have not converted a Laser - but have done a Sunfish, a Minifish, a Woodpussy and an old Herters cartopper. I would think a Laser would make a fine gunning boat. The first step would be to put her in the water and see how she will trim when you are in hunting position. Is this a boat you'll be down on your back or sitting up? This gives you the information you need to determine the position (fore and aft) of the cockpit.

Also, you will have to decide whether you can use the existing decks or make new ones. For the Sunfish and Minifish, I was able to use the existing decks - usually forcing a little more crown into them with the new bulkheads once the cockpit opening has been cut. For the other boats, I framed out new decks and used 1/4" ply with 'glass over.

Here are some pics of the Sunfish. There are more on my site at http://stevenjaysanford.com/gilgo-gunboat-sunfish-conversion-to-layout-boat/ . [I do not know how to put live links on here - so just copy this into your browser.] Also, I have a bunch more photos - haven't yet put together a step-by-step tutorial. I'd be happy to send you more if you need/want them.

Hope this helps!

SJS

 

[CAnderson]

Steve-

Your drawings are awesome! Thanks for posting and sharing those here on the site for public consumption. The build turned out awesome.

How did it row when you were done?

Chad A

 

[Steve Sanford]

Hi, Chad~

Both the Minifish and the Sunfish row beautifully:

I might (?) add a skeg if I were going to row it a lot - but, as you can see from the photo, her stern is well above the water so you would need a deep skeg. Skegs help with tracking but are really annoying when you have to drag the boat over thin water.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Carl]

Awesome conversion.
I wonder if you cut the stern down a foot or so & added a transom how she would move along with a 6hp or so?

 

[Steve Sanford]

Carl~

I think the Sunfish hull has too much rocker to plane with an O/B. A 2 or 3 HP might push a shortened boat along but I think a bigger engine would just squat and labor. But, I have not tried it.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Carl]

That's what I was thinking too, only displacement hull speed.
A 6hp might even be too much.
What is the hull speed of Sunfish? I am guessing 6-8 knots?

 

[CAnderson]

I contacted a few people that have built the Sunfish conversions as I am in the middle of converting two of them. There is a gentlemen, who I believe is a member here and over on DuckHunting Chat, as well as on the ScullersForum, he did a beautiful conversion on one. The big problem was putting it under power. Just as you guys have surmised, he said the limit really was 6hp. Anything more was simply extra weight with no improvement in speed due to the hull speed of the boat. He cut his hull down to 12' or so, which is what my plan is too. I am thinking that the 12' length would possibly make it easier to add a skeg at the rear and not have to make it too big.

My goal with these boats is to make them light enough that we could trailer on my utility trailer and launch without a ramp and too much hassle. Power will simply be rowing power as I don't want to pay the annual registration fees, not that they are expensive, but I didn't get titles when I bought the hulls. Hoping to keep it simple.

Once I cut the hull down to 12', I will make the transom for each and then my son and I can float test them to get an idea of where we will need to make the cockpit for rowing and hunting.

 

[RC D]

I am in the process of a Sunfish conversion. I cut the stern back and my OAL is just over 11'. I will get some measurements if someone is interested as well as post up some pictures tonight. Steve gave me some great ideas and steered me into a more simple approach than what I had planned on. I also plan on rowing mine.

Currently I have the cardboard patterns cut for bulkheads and I am waiting for my epoxy to show up.

 

[D.J. Hagen]

Hey Steve, not to hijack Mike's thread but what's below deck in your oarlock setup? I've got a fiberglass MoMarsh DP that I would like to row rather than paddle but I've not yet figured out what would be the best approach to building solid oarlocks far enough apart for an efficient oar length. It seems like simply bolting would result in too much stress on the deck. You refer to a "beveled backer" in the photo on your site.

 

[Steve Sanford]

DJ~

If the decks are fairly flat, the backer board probably does not need to be beveled. I do not recall how I did it on the Sunfish/Gilgo Gunboat. I may very well have used a piece of 1/2 AC ply - maybe 3" x 10" - set in 3M 5200. Since your elbows, guns. etc may come in contact with it, I round over or chamfer the edges and use bolts no longer than I need.

Here is the stanchion from my old Scooter - where the decks have a lot of crown and so I used a beveled backer - the complementary angle to the bevel on the bottom of the stanchion.

I replaced two pierces of flat oak with beveled treated SYP. This way the carriage bolts pull everything together, with the top and bottom faces being parallel to each other. I do not see washers in this picture but there should be. In fact, I would use SS fender washers to spread the load.

The cutout in the middle of the stanchion allows water to drain right through the oarlocks. On my Scooter, I have bored weep holes for the same purpose. Without this drainage, ice can plug the hole - providing one more "opportunity" for problem-solving in the pre-dawn rush.

I did use the pipe stanchions on my first boat. They were through-bolted to an oak frame member. They served double duty because I used them as a "hitching post" to secure the boat to a stake in the bog when gunning.

All the best,

SJS

 

[D.J. Hagen]

Ahhh... Got it. Thanks, Steve!