Sailboats used for duckboats

Brad Yeaton

Brad Yeaton

Member
Hi

I am looking for anyone who has converted a sailboat into a duckboat. Any advice/plans/pixs would be of help before I spend time and $$$$.

I am picking up a 13'+ fiberglass " Lazer" with a 5' beam later this week. I am especially interested in the transom work that was done to alter/strengthen it.

The motor I plan on using is a 9.9, will this work okay? I am not sure what to expect when a motor is put on a sailboat? The hull is flat in the stern and goes to a v-hull 2/3rds of the way to the bow.

Any advice is appreciated!!!

Tks
Brad
 
Hi Brad,

Sailboats like that are displacement hull. Expect to be pushed by a motor but not get up on plane.

I wouldn't think you're going to put much of a motor on it HP wise, or perhaps I mean you probably shouldn't... I don;'t think a small motor is going to put a ton of strain on the transom, but if you're worried about it, epoxy in a laminated doubler for the transom. Use a good marine ply and epoxy the snot out of it so it won't rot.

I think most of these setups are so low that the motor mount ends up projecting a good bit up above the deck. Looking at it from the side, imagine an L on it's side with the long part of the L flat on the deck, and the short part of the L sticking up to mount the motor to. Some guys reinforce the short leg of the L with diagonals.

Other than that, it is just a matter of gutting all the stuff you don't want (use a rotary cutter and good protection from fiberglass bits), plugging the openings you don't like (daggerboard, etc), redecking it with an opening size that siuts you, and repainting it. Viola!

Lots of guys have done it, I'm not one of them. Hopefully they'll post up here.

Charlie
 
PS. A 9.9 sounds like way too much motor to me. A trolling motor or a small HP motor would be much better suited (just my 2 cents). A 9.9 will push a lot of boat...
 
Thanks for the reply...I presently use a decked over 1965 12ft aluminum boat for two guys and a dog. The 9.9 worked great and since it is what I presently have I was hoping to be able to use to save a little coin. Even if I found it was too much motor and needed to reduce the size at least the transom modifications would be the same regardless of what motor is used which is a plus.

The areas I hunt mostly are lakes, rivers, and tidal marshes. Due the the amount of islands where I hunt the saltwater I have made out great with the 12 footer as it is pretty well sheltered going too and from the launch to the marshes.

This new boat will be a little longer and a lot wider, plus have no seats in the way to affect the design. The goal is to have something stable with a low profile that easily dissappears on the shore. I usually take dead eel grass and place it all over the decking.

Lots of birds showing up here, mostly woodies, blacks, mallards and ringnecks in the freshwater, I haven't been down to the coast yet. Usually don'y hunt there untill the inland regions freeze up anyway.

Thanks again

Brad
 
Not trying to steal your post Brad, but I just picked up one of these sail boats this weekend too. Someone had converted it into a two man layout style boat and I ripped some of that out yesterday. I wanted suggestions from ya'll on how to set this thing up. I was thinking about cutting out a motor well and building a transom with pods on each side. I also thought a 9.9 would be a good fit. Let me know what ya'll think. Shawn

 
4 hrs of discussion and you couldn't wait to tear into it..hehehehehehehe


keep us posted
 
Hi Shawn

Looks like you also have your work cut out!! I do not have a pix of mine but it is somewhat different than yours, but it will be great to see what advice is offered from the guys on this site...what will work for you in the end will also work for me.

Hopefully we will also hear from some that have converted sailboats as well.

What size is your boat and what decking design did you plan on using? I have 100% no experience using epoxy or fiberglass so its going to be a learning event!!!

Brad
 
A 9.9 on a Laser hull?......Not if you're planning on staying upright very long! The boat may be 5' wide at the hull/deck seam, but the waterline beam is something more in the 3'-3.5' range. The rest of the beam is out of the water and the part that is in the water is pretty round in cross-section. There also isn't enough beam or hull volume in the water at the stern to do well with that much weight added back there. I don't know the exact waterline length, but hull speed is going to be somewhere in the 4.5-6 knot range. It would do that with a decent-sized Minn Kota on the transom. A 9.9 will put it up on a plane (a 5 hp would probably also do it) but it really is a sailboat hull, designed to be heeled over and counterbalanced with the sailor's weight hanging off the gunwale. Once you push it up onto a plane and attempt a straight and level motor-boat-style run, it's going to get incredibly unstable. There is no flat run aft for it to plane on and it will be planing on the middle of the hull. One false move and it's going to roll right over. If you're looking for a hull that can be converted to a low-power, diaplacement-speed motorboat where your motor is an alternative to rowing/padddling it might work if there is enough stability for you to hunt from, but a 9.9 would be an accident just waiting to happen and I doubt you'll have to wait very long.
 
Todd,
You are right !!!! I got all the water laden chip board out and it sits on the ground just like you said it would in the water, on about a 3.5 ft. circle. Oh well another dream dashed on the rocks. Well anyway it was a fun road trip to Jeff's place, got to see some great decoys that he has carved, and picked up a new pair of waders at the bass pro in Jackson on the way home. Thanks for the input. Shawn
 
Todd, that is an eye opener... Boat building is not my expertise by any account so here comes a few questions. Is there anything that can be done to make this hull work?

Could I add extensions/pods on each side of the motor similar to Devlin duck boats.

The biggest latest thing up here with commercial fishing vessels is they cut the hull in half lengthways, then widen and lengthen it...would any thing like this be possible. I would not be using the boat this season and would have lots of time to work on it or get an experienced boat builder to do it.

I was thinking $250.00 for a fiberglass hull, the price is right, the boat is in great shape, I was hoping it would work, but maybe not??

What are your thoughts??
 
Buy a $100 dollar trolling motor at walmart and use it as a displacement hull - it'll work like a charm.

Just don't try to make it a jet boat with that 9.9.

Charlie
 
I think Charlie has the sane answer if you go with the Laser hull, but I'd be willing to bet that starting from scratch with a good plan for a stitch-and-glue type of plywood boat would be easier, more successful in the water and maybe even cheaper in the long run. Sitting low and traveling at rowing speed the Laser would probably work, but you're going to have to do a fair amount of rebuilding just to get it to that point. Since you'll need to remove quite a bit of the deck to open it up, the remaining hull may be surprisingly floppy and need some serious structure added inside. It's generally a lot easier to build from a plan than to try to reverse-engineer adequate structure into an existing hull. Trying to make major changes in the hull shape at the same time just strikes me as a real nightmare.
 
When I hunt the salt water I always have a lengthy trip due to few boat launches in those areas so low speed is not perferred.
I did buy a complete set of Arthur Armstrong plans at a yard sale, templates and all (for the Broadbill) and I have studied the Devlin Black Brant as well as the Duck hunter from Gator Boats, just was hoping to save some time by getting a fiberglass hull pre-made, which would work with the motor I have...the sailboat idea I will set aside and go back to some more thinking. Thanks for all your help!!!
 
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