Small Boat Ownership - Choosing a Hull
There are three basic ways of becoming a boat owner. You buy from new, you buy second hand, or you build the thing yourself either completely from scratch, or by buying in ready made mouldings. Self build was a very popular option when small boat fishing took off. Though I have done it myself, it is rarely done these days, and as such will get no further mention here simply because to do it justice would mean devoting a disproportionately large amount of space to a subject that will interest too few people. The vast majority of small boats used by anglers these days come from recognised manufacturers. That however is not the recommendation it might at first glance appear to be. This isn’t necessarily a quality issue, though quality of construction in terms of finish and layup can have implications in terms of durability, reliability and ultimately safety. Of greater concern from a small boat angling perspective is choosing the right type of boat for the job you have in mind from what to a newcomer must seem like a bewildering array of choice and performance claims.
So lets grasp the first nettle with a detailed look at boat hulls. Deciding on the hull you want for the job at hand can be crucial. This unfortunately is not as straight forward as it might sound as each hull type offers its own unique range of handling characteristics. Manufacturers are only too happy to sell the plus points of their particular boat, or to compare theirs favourably to the opposition. What they are rarely willing to do is discuss any down side of their design. You are going to have to decide that argument for yourself. If in doubt, go to the Southampton boat show and ask to try before you buy. All I can do here is offer an objective appraisal of general hull designs. Hopefully then you can make an informed judgement and come away with the boat you think will best fit your needs. As I said way in my book 'Dinghy Fishing At Sea' way back in 1984, the perfect boat has not been built and never will be, and in that respect nothing has changed. Gains made in one area invariably come at the cost of losses elsewhere. So let’s explore some of the pro's and con's of the most common hulls on offer.
To simplify things, lets look systematically at the good and bad points of each hull type in turn. When I first started fishing, the traditional displacement hull still reigned supreme. A few of the newer designs were beginning to make an appearance which I was reliably informed would not stand the test of time. You can’t beat a true displacement hull I was told. Today you would struggle to find one. As the name implies, they ride through as opposed to over the water, displacing it (pushing it away) as they power forward creating a lot of drag which in turn limits the top speed of the boat. When the maximum speed is reached, which is usually around 6 knots, that's it. The performance level of these hulls is governed by the laws of physics which state that the maximum achievable speed of a displacement boat is 1.34 x the square root of the waterline length. The square root of a 16 foot displacement hull is 4, which multiplied by 1.34 gives a top speed of 5.36 knots. Putting a bigger engine on the back will not increase that speed. But what it will do is make the boat less safe. Too much weight and thrust at the back will cause the bow to rise reducing stability under power, making it more likely to turn over in rough conditions.
“But they ride so much better than the newer designs in lumpy conditions”, was another argument put in their favour. Don’t believe a word of it. Their best, which comes at low speeds into a lumpy sea, can be matched by many of the newer designs, and due to their semi circular shape, despite having a keel, they roll like a pig in a beam (side) on swell. For me, they were only the best when there was nothing else on the market to compete with them. Now there is plenty of competition. Some innovative thinking, primarily from Orkney Boats, has brought the displacement concept into the modern world. Orkney's faster traditional looking models are in actual fact semi-displacement boats created by flattening the rear half of the hull to give the front end lift and increase its pace. I fish fairly regularly from the 19 foot version and have been out in some particularly nasty conditions. They give a pretty good ride but do roll quite a bit when out in a beam on swell.
Most people these days it seems want fast planing hulls. But speed can bring with it a whole range of potential problems, not the least of which is knowing how and when to use it to best and safest advantage. The first fast fishing boat to hit the UK mass market was the cathedral hull. Two bow to stern arches under the hull created by its having three keels combines pace with exceptional stability on the water. From the inside, it is like being stood inside a very large kitchen drawer with an engine on the back. The floor is flat and the beam (width) of the boat is usually uniform along its entire length. At rest on the water it is a very stable boat indeed. When you come in onto a beach it sits upright, which is good. And when you walk about in the thing, it hardly moves at all laterally. An ideal angling platform at face value. Except that anglers don’t spend all their time fishing. You have to get out and back, and that’s when some of the cathedrals short falls start to surface.
Cathedral hulls are not good at going into a nasty sea. They slam excessively if too much power is put on, and if they go too slow and come down off the plane to cope, they can become fuel guzzler’s. In addition to this, they can also slam at anchor. Realising they had a problem, the designers began looking at innovative ways of getting a better ride. This they achieved by reducing the depth of the two outer keels and taking them further back than the deeper centre keel. This was done to give the hull a better cutting entry into a lumpy sea. And it worked. But as was said earlier, to achieve this something had to be sacrificed, which in this case was some stability. Semi-cathedral hulls are less laterally stable than full cathedrals. But that is not the same as saying they are unstable, because they are not. The move from full to semi cathedral has produced a much better boat to the point that there are not too many new full cathedrals about these days. Most of what is out there has been around for some time. I have owned both, and unless you make the switch from full to semi you wouldn't necessarily be aware of any stability loss.
Tackling the same problems from a different angle is the V-hull. Actually, the V-hull is not that far removed from an evolved semi cathedral. Flattening underneath towards the back half of the under hull is what allows this boat to plane. Having a single cutting keel makes for a much smoother entry, and consequently, a much more comfortable ride into a bumpy sea. V-hulls also sit well at anchor in terms of reduced slamming. I currently fish from a V-hull and have no thoughts of changing, though if I am honest, I have fished from more comfortable designs in recent times. But V-hulls, like all the rest, do have some drawbacks. Two that readily spring to mind are slightly reduced lateral stability, though as before, if you have nothing to mentally compare this to then you wouldn’t notice it. The greater the beam the greater the stability with V-hulls. Their other problem can be yawing (slight veering to one side) in a lumpy following sea, particularly at low power when coming onto a beach. This however is model dependant. Hulls with a wide parallel beam have less of a tendency towards doing this than those which curve in towards the stern.
For those curious to know which two hull types I have fished from in recent times that have better handling characteristics that any of the previous, they are the catamaran and the RIB. In both cases, small trailed versions built fitted out with anglers in mind are now available. RIB’s need have none of the potential shortfalls anglers might at face value think they have. They can be made angler friendly, and their pace and safety in the most diabolical conditions has no equal. Because they have a V-hull from bow to stern stabilised by the tubes, you will not find a more comparable small boat ride at the sort of pace a RIB can sustain. They are stable, comfortable, and incredibly safe – once you get accustomed to being much nearer to the water that many of us are used to. Cats are exceptionally stable for different reasons, particularly into and with a following sea. They manoeuvre far more readily and easily than I ever thought they could, and give a safe, comfortable ride in a lumpy sea from any direction. In addition, they sit totally upright at the waters edge and offer increased fishing space due to their exceptional bream. The South Africans use trailed cats a lot, and I can tell you from personal experience that they regularly fish in conditions we wouldn't dream of going out in here.
There isn’t much in the way of fixtures and fittings to discuss in terms of hulls. A transom step or ladder is always useful for climbing in. Trim tabs are also well worth considering. Though expensive, the difference they will make in terms of stability, ride and fuel economy will see them pay for themselves in every way over time. And of course, a decision will need to be made regarding keel protection. You can get plastic keel covers to protect from impact damage and sand abrasion. You can also have a layer of fibre glass mat laid over the keel(s) then sealed in with a waxed gel coating to remove any stickiness. The other option is to fit a stainless steel keel band(s). There was a time when I would have advised against this on the basis that impact damage to keel bands screwed through into wood on the inside could lead to weepage and other problems. Now keel bands tend to be screwed or bolted through the glass of the keel then sealed and locked in place with polyester bonding paste, plus in some cases, a couple of layers of matting on top . So no chance of seepage. For beach and open slip launching keel, protection is essential. In sheltered harbours less so. And for moorings, I personally wouldn’t bother at all.
The one remaining question is new or second hand. The big plus with buying from new is that if you study the specification sheet, you know exactly what you are going to get. I personally would buy direct from the manufacturer, which in the case of Warrior Boats is 10 minutes up the road from me. So I was able to see their production techniques at every stage, which is a very interesting and reassuring thing to do if you get the opportunity. Though there will be obvious savings, buying second hand requires a great deal more trust. The condition of what might be under the floor, particularly on home built boats or those that have seen a lot of service is anybody’s guess. Most manufacturers these days shy away from timber wherever they can, many doing away with it altogether preferring to use glassed in foam strips, and in some cases a moulded support lattice for the floor. Not knowing what might be under the floor of a second hand boat, the first thing I would do would be to raise the bow higher than the stern using the trailer jockey wheel, then remove the floor well bung. If any water comes out I would start to have some serious concerns.
Water ingress between the floors can happen for a variety of reasons. Check for below water line cracks on the outside of the hull, particularly along the keel and transom edges. Also, where the rollers make contact. Water can also get beneath the floor from inside the hull. The edges where the floor butts up to the sides of a boat can let rain water through if they have not been sealed in adequately. I always leave the bow of my boat raised as high as possible on the jockey wheel to allow rain water to pass quickly through and out of the transom bung. Alternatively, fit a trailing and mooring cover. If the boat has a cover and still has water between the floors, I would immediately walk away. Other than that, so far as the hull goes, what you see is pretty much what you get. Look for signs of gel damage and repairs; holes drilled and left, and check out the general state of things for signs of cherished treatment or neglect and base your decision on that. But the hull will not be the sole criteria upon which to base your overall judgement. The top moulding, trailer and outboard must also come into the reckoning when buying second hand, particularly if it comes as a complete outfit.
SEE THE VIDEO VAULT – Dinghy outfit & Dinghy second hand