New Predator BBSB Sneak boat (formerly the Chuck Huff BBSB) info

T

Tony H

Well-known member
Here are some of the first photos of the transition of the Huff to the Predator. We are fixing the major hull hooks and bows to allow the hull to lift properly like a planning hull should. We will then change the Hull and deck joint to a much stronger style and clean up some issues there as well. Lastly we will give the transom a 1.5" thick core making it bullet proof and perfect for those guys who like HP. LOL

The project is now underway and we have begun the reconstruction process of the boat. There is 2 big bubbles in the original hull mold and over a 1.5" belly in the hull so it has to be corrected before we can move forward with the hull so we are building a new plug for the hull right now from a part from the original mold it will then be cut up and trashed. The deck will survive with some much needed attention to detail and cleaning up the lines and making the transom wider for a 1.5" thick transom core. We are excited about this new boat and are working quickly to get it into production. If you have Facebook feel free to follow us as we recreate this wonder design and bring the Predator Sneak boat to life.



 
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Tony,

That's going to be sweet. I can't wait to see this project come full circle. I always, and still do, wanted a Chuck Huff. It just seemed like the perfect combination of a marsh boat and a speed boat.
 
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Cool...I'll be watching your progress on here. Hope to see more pics and details as the project moves along. I'm just not a FB'er...

Steve
 
Very cool. I'd love to have one but a 1-man boat is out of the picture until my boy goes off to college.
What is your FB site name again?
 
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This has a 2 man cockpit. BTW
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Really? Are you saying this boat will be CG certified for two guys? Along with a two person rating, what would be the hp rating with a two person capacity?
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Dave, yes this very well can be rated as a 2 man boat. When MLB tested this boat it indeed tested for 2 persons. 20HP with persons max weight 219lbs and max weight 439lbs thus the reason they chose to only rate for one person.

Once we get the hook and major hull problems corrected we will indeed gain freeboard for testing because there is a major 1.5" hook in a third of the hull. I might add that they had 3" of freeboard left during the above testing as well so there is room for more capacity.

We have a few things to consider with this one. Mainly the HP rating which most likely will be 15HP which will also gain us some capacity weight. Many of these concerns we just won't know until we get the first boat built and start doing our own testing.

I will update once we have the results in a month or 2.
 
here is a photo of the hull if you own one of these may want to flip it and put a straight edge on it. We are working on fixing it now and getting the hull designed properly for a planing hull. as you can see there is 2 huge gaps in the hull and a hook in the back transom edge as well. not good for performance. the belly is actually deeper than the height if the center keel strake.


https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=9805a0f3c1169cee5fa2b20fe3316b4f&oe=56953AB8
 
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So just out of curiosity, do you use the existing hull and fill in the gaps/smooth out the hook/fix other imperfections, to make the new bottom molds?
 
Carl we build the plug for the deck from a actual boat and the hull is a new skin out of the original molds and are fixing those pieces then a new mold will be built from those. Requires a lot of filling and sanding and a long straight edge. LOL

here is a few photos of the decks progress. 1 gallon of bonds in it to clean up the edge lines and make them straight and fix the big dip in the bow nose area. Not the front edge shows how bad the front drop was on the boat.


And the new hull plug after we add stingers to prevent the hull from flexing. Now we pop this from the mold flip it and start working on it. We are also changing the hull deck flange on this boat as well.

 
Here is how bad the hull of these boats are. a photo and a quick video.
https://www.facebook.com/WaterfowlWorkscom/videos/926147154105945/

A dip or hook as we call them like this will cause the boat to run nose down instead of nose up on plane and make it slower getting on plane.


The photos may not look like much but the depth of the hook is about 1.5". And thats a crazy amount of hook. Guys complain about performance of boats with a hook so minor you hardly notice it with a straight edge. LOL
 
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Keep the pics coming, it is really interesting to see how y'all fix & build these boats!
 
Keep the pics coming, it is really interesting to see how y'all fix & build these boats!
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Will do, atleast what we can. Stay tuned for some more pics tonight possibly after we get the hull set up for fixing.
 
Been hard at it but wanted to bring everyone up to speed, We have been working on both the hull and deck of the Predator and making some progress thats noticeable at this point. The hull now has 5 gallons of filler in it fixing the serious dips and hooks in it and cleaning things up. We still have about 1/8" to fill on the hull to get it all evened out and level and then hours of long block sanding to smooth things out nicely. Worth noting that in one of the pics you see random screws sticking up throughout the hull. That are markers telling me exactly how low the dips and hooks are and how much filler is required to smooth them out. Here is a few photos of the progress. With the amount of filler being used we expect the capacity ratings to increase on this hull quite a bit HP rating will be 15hp which will be plenty of power for this hull. Of course I know many are going to run 25's on them just so they can go fast. hahaha. But by rating at 15hp we will gain even more capacity and may get this to a reasonably rated 2 man in the end.

The deck, has ben cleaned up and we have added the new deck hull flange which will provide a stronger joint and also allow us to install the grass rails on the side of the boat horizontally rather the top deck vertically so that they will provide a better way to grass the boat up and hide it. We will next remove the screws from the flange(white pieces) on the deck fill them and add another piece to the base of the Flange to create a flange for the glass when being laid up that will be trimmed later. Which in the end will create what appears to be U shaped hull deck joint.

Yes there is still a pretty good dip in the deck flange area at the rear of the decoy boards. we will be leveling that out as well real soon.

One thing I have learned over the past 15 years is a mans work is never done. When you think you have it take a day off and go back the next day and start fixing something you missed. LOL do this for a week and then just maybe you will finally be done after being done 5 times before.

Sorry the pictures are so large but in order to see whats happening they need to be.
We will update as time permits if there is interest as we move forward.
Enjoy.






 
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We are finally applying filler to the deck and hull final tally 9 gallons of filler to clean things up and get rid of the issues with the hull. I am certain that we will gain capacity on this boat.

The deck is ready for finish sanding and the mold to be built. Now the lines are looking much cleaner and straight and the deck is basically ready to do. Should have a mold by the end of the weekend. We will attach grass rails to the side of the boat through the deck hull flange to protect it and allow it to be grassed up. We are also making a glass spray dodger for this boat that will be standard and a cloth dodger will be an upgrade. Stay tuned guys Hope you enjoying the transformation.




 
Doing some quick math.

Based on the old MLB test results as long as we can maintain the weight of the boat MLB tested we will indeed increase the capacity on the boat and rate it for 2 persons. It be 2 persons 300lbs 460lbs persons motor and gear. With a 15hp rating if we meet the weight of 245lbs. Will be close with the hull built properly and cored for structural strength. We shall see.
 
Great looking transformation from the chuck huff, boat looks cleaner alreadly and the side grass rails are a great upgrade to hide the boat. A glass spray dodger should really finish this boat nicely no need to replace the spray shield after a few seasons and will really help to shed water when things get nasty. Is the spray shield going to go almost to the bow and back to the duck boards? This type of dodger will allow for decoy storage to the bow and a great way to house the dog while hunting. Should be an awseome jersey duck boat
 
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