My Floating Muscle Car

[CC-John]

Originally Posted by Thumper

Very impressive boat. What a sound. I had a 16 foot aluminum boat and put a 5hp Merc on it for cruising/swimming on lakes. It is hard to imagine that much heft and power within the same length hull. With more pitch on the prop, you will pull a couple of skiers barely off idle at 1700-1800 rpm comfortably. They'll both pop right out of the water in a second or two from standstill. It will be a spectacle to witness, and hear! Nice project.

Do have someone get some video when you float her and go for a maiden voyage. Please.

Thanks!

This ol' girl's days of pulling skiers are pretty much over, all she has to do is provide me with a few fun hours on the river every couple of weeks to maintain my mental health.. She never fails to draw a crowd at the launch ramp or any dock I tie up at.

Right now as under propped as it is, its acceleration from a dead stop is absolutely brutal because the engine can spool up to its peak torque so quickly. It almost feels like getting shot out of a cannon! Which is surprising since this little boat tips the scales at just over 2700 pounds with a full tank of fuel. She's like a lot of the early fiberglass boats.... Grossly over built.. I launched it off the top of a huge wake from a passing wakeboard boat one weekend and put probably three feet of daylight between her keel and the water. The only thing that rattled when I landed was my fillings!

Here's a short video I shot on her "maiden" voyage back in October 2022. My buddy driving the boat was scared to death as it was his first time driving a boat.