7m sharkcat on a diet, drop some kgs off these mosters, make them better to tow.

[lembo]

hi guys
just wondering people thoughts on this. I used to own a 7m sharkcat, had twin 200s and was a bloody weapon on the water. fast, comfortable, went over anything but man it was heavy, it used about 8 million litres per klm and had to be towed with my work truck.
I have a little idea in my head of possibly getting one of these and doing a full rebuild and trying to get the weight down. my ideas are,
pull floor and cabin off, all stringers aswell taking it back to pretty muck a bare shell and also about 1m off the transom.making it a 6m
put a new transom in straight across (like a kevlacat) and put ally pods on it. new tanks and stringers, floor and just have a small centre cabin , possibly made of aluminium.

I know these hulls were built to last and are very heavy. I thought stringers and floor to be made of it I think its called. and the whole change of transom with pods would drop some kgs and I don't think would affect performance to muchbeen shorter.
I don't need much of a cabin as if I want to sleep on the boat I just have a storm cover and sleep on the deck.
what do u guys recon ?
I could drop some serious weight off one of these , enough to get near the 3t mark BMT.

[Chimo]

lembo

Probably quicker and easier and probably cheaper to just buy a 6 m newer, lighter, easier to tow cat like a Voyager and go fishing.

Cheers
Chimo

[scottar]

lembo

Probably quicker and easier and probably cheaper to just buy a 6 m newer, lighter, easier to tow cat like a Voyager and go fishing.

Cheers
Chimo

That's what I was thinking. Sounds like a project and a half if you go ahead with an unknown quantity as a result.

[Horse]

Cats are fickle beasts. I would be reluctant to shorten your hull length

[lembo]

bit of a hole in the market with the 6m range of cats,
whats a voyager worth ? the reson why im saing 7m sharkies there are a few around and darn cheap.
have found 3 that were in need for a rebuild but all with trailers under 5 grand. and I know playing with length is a funny thing but it wont be to much shorter, 7m without pods 6m with pods so maybe 500mm In it. its just an idea and throwing it out there. I really like the 600 series shark cat but have only ever seen one in the old sharkcat advertisement and never one for sale.

[Noelm]

The old 23 was available shortened to 20' same hull with a bit cut out, they went OK, don't know how much you can lighten it though, maybe a bit, but you still need the bulkheads, and the crossover beams the floor sits on, might be able to make them out of something other than hardwood maybe and save a few KG?, a big centre console would be a ripper.

[lembo]

I assume the floor would be build to last a nuclear explosion and not on the light side just like rest of the hull. ive heard of uniboard which is strong, light and doesn't rot. which could go in the bulkheads and floor. the centre console wouldn't be to big ,just have a small bit of storage. I love the 560 centre consoles. absoloute weapons.

[Noelm]

The floor itself is not very thick at all, and the beams that run across the boat are only about 70X20mm hardwood glassed to the sides and across the tunnel, the bulkheads are only 12mm ply, partially covered in glass, there is not a lot to be saved (in my opinion) thinking of selling my 18' centre console soon, I had thought of cutting the motor wells out and making a full height transom with pods on it, but never did, be a great boat if it was done.

[hungry6]

I would be looking at lighter motors and trailer. these are the 2 area you can strip 100s of kgs out without affecting the ride of the boat

[mustang5]

The weight is the advantage I would assume...

I would have thought with some good preparation and deck layout you could get them below 3.5t which should sort the towing issue..

With regards to ride economy, I don't thing there is going to be too much difference in economy between a 6m and a 7m cat... A lot would depend on whether its a full Cabin, or runabout style.. Etc..

Potentially you could do a custom centre console???

[PB]

Pretty good way to stuff a hull that works, It most likely wont work as by cutting 1m off the back is playing havoc with the hulls designed LCG. The only real way to save weight is changing motors, lighter trailer and lighting your payload.

[lembo]

yeah I know they are a great hull. my old 7m had twin 200s and was phenominal on the water, comparing to my current 5.2 kevlacat is just not fair.just out of the water was its problem. I thought the old 20 foot looked just like a shortened 23/24 foot sharkie. I thought taking 1m or just shorter and replacing with pods wouldn't actually be affecting length to much as where the out boards would sit on pods would be similar to where they were in the wells. and yes the motors would be 140 suzukis or 150 yammies, centre console would be simple and probably ally for weight. plus yes ally trailer.
but It is justa thought at the moment and wanted to hear different opinions.

[Cat Man]

bit of a hole in the market with the 6m range of cats,
whats a voyager worth ? the reson why im saing 7m sharkies there are a few around and darn cheap.
have found 3 that were in need for a rebuild but all with trailers under 5 grand. and I know playing with length is a funny thing but it wont be to much shorter, 7m without pods 6m with pods so maybe 500mm In it. its just an idea and throwing it out there. I really like the 600 series shark cat but have only ever seen one in the old sharkcat advertisement and never one for sale.

Hey limbo, Just back from hols but V625 Classic starts at $80k BMT with 4st Mercs, and the SportsFish from around $100k plus electronics, and options like elec winch, toilet, hard top etc if required. A little bit more than 2nd hand Sharky, but very competitive against other new.

[Casey Ison]

hi mate sounds like a pretty good project. but I must say with experience of these cats in a cut down version was a bad experience in the bigger models anyway. the old tin can coast guard boat was a 42 foot noosa cat cut down to a 32 foot. my old boy was a skipper there for 20 + years and this boat handled like a dog in a big sea on the WBB. it sat really low in the arse end and very heavy to steer. after battling with this boat for quiet a few years they upgraded to what they have had for awhile now which is the original 42 foot model. massive difference in handling and steering in a big following sea. might be different in a smaller version but just my input

cheers mate good luck with it