Bruce Harris Original 20 ft Shark Cat

[adam sharkcat]

Hi All
its seams I am here again with another Shark cat project
twin 200hp Mercurys bit old but run real good
Had quite a few Shark Cats and just bought another one
These 20s are getting harder to find,so this was too hard to pass up
its getting a complete rebuild,floor,strings,bulk heads, fuel tanks,etc
will post a couple of pics
cheers Adam112506112507112513

[Noelm]

Yep, not many of them left now, I don't think they made that many 20's, lots of 23's around still.

[adam sharkcat]

Hey Bud
good to see another Cat Fan online
Did you sell yr shark cat last year?

[Cobbo1]

Love these boats, only just read this article this morning
http://aloneatseaphotography.com.au/9650

[Dean1]

Awsome mate. Good to see you followed your heart. You would have regretted not getting that old girl.
I will have to fly down and go for a run in it when shes up and running and see what the old boy was on about saying the ride is amazing and spoke it about it still 20 years later.
So fast with 200s!!

[koastal]

Great boats

[adam sharkcat]

Hey Deano
Sounds like a plan!!!!,spoke again today the fibreglasser and booked it in for May
twin200s should be a weapon
and there not heavy donks

[Dr FuManchu]

Nice work Adam. I saw this on Gumtree a few months back. Looks pretty tidy after a wash. Check this old Solo commercial with a 20footer and cheesy mo to go with it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_DVmEqHoiY

Awesome;D

[Dean1]

Dr Fumanchu thats is sooo funny ha ha.
I love it thats bloody awsome!
Hows the music hshaha

[adam sharkcat]

Thanks for that Footage Awesome!!!!!
Noosa Cat used to have another youtube clip,but they have taken it down.Bugger
Cheers Adam

[Dr FuManchu]

Yeh I remember that footage with the old Police boats and a couple of rescue boats flying across the waves. I used to have one of those old 23 footers with twin Mercruiser 470's in it. Big and heavy but the motors were shithouse and I didn't have the money back then to repower. I'm just about to get a repower done on the 700 series I have now and going for 2 Mercury 4 strokes.
Hey Adam when you've got yours finished you can hit the bar with an esky full of solo, budgie smugglers and cheesy mo and show everyone how it's done ;D

[Dean1]

Yep i think i know why that video was taken down. Made modern Noosacats look not so good.
Inverloch marine it was. Looked everywhere for it its vamished 😡

[Dean1]

Bahahaha ye and run the no canopy version 😂

[Ringy35]

hahaha that video is awesome!!!!

[fishtragic]

You're bringing back old memories Adam. I had an 18' shark cat with a 470 mercruiser single sterndrive. Had some great times with it and some shockers. The black anchor was a constant battle to keep running, it wasn't well looked after in a previous life. Nothing kept up with it into the sea but I nearly capsized a few times with any sort of following sea. What a pig down hill with single drive! I learnt the hard way to stay well out of the shotgun start at the NSW interclub back when everyone used to line up and race for the heads. I met the mechanic on Stefans' ocean racer, 'Jaeger', one day at Port Stephens and it turns out he worked for Sharkcat and that he fitted my boat with the single sterndrive then told me that after the eighth one he took the mould to the tip and asked the attendant if he could drive the bulldozer over it himself. Didn't do much for my ego. Had a 24' with a 200 Volvo sterndrive and couldn't fault it apart from the old following sea chestnut, 34knots, I think that one is going to fly with 2 200s. They're a great work/fishing platform as you're obviously aware and I'm sure you have fun hanging on in that rocket when you're finished. Good luck.

[adam sharkcat]

Thanks for that bud
Its true,some Shark cat where not so good as others
My first18ft Cat was a Harris cat 1980,it was a Bullet,couldnt fault it at all
Then i bought a Later one 1994 and it was crap Broached a lot that one had to be driven hard to get it to perform
Ive seen the 20 Sharkcat on the water and they go well
time will tell
cheers Adam

[Flex]

Thanks for that bud
Its true,some Shark cat where not so good as others
My first18ft Cat was a Harris cat 1980,it was a Bullet,couldnt fault it at all
Then i bought a Later one 1994 and it was crap Broached a lot that one had to be driven hard to get it to perform
Ive seen the 20 Sharkcat on the water and they go well
time will tell
cheers Adam

just curious why was the later SC a bad boat? under powered?

[Noelm]

That would be interesting to know, except for the very old flat bottomed ones, the design changed little through the years.

[adam sharkcat]

Hi Flex
The later one had a pair of V4 140hp Evinrudes VRO that where very heavy in my option,it had tones of power ,but really suffered with the self drainer too, one of my crew whore a pair of gumboots one day chasing Marlin of Bermigui a few years ago!!!!
Also had Big tanks 180s underfloor
it was a better layout, but should have had lighter engines Arse Heavy
really didnt like a following sea catching the rear Quarter
if you drove it like you stole it (Flat out) it was quite incredible,but you had to hold on!!!
The early 560 (1980)had 85hp on it,nothing phased this boat
I also had a 560 factory podded Shark cat that went well,but still not as good as my first Cat
That said,, Shark Cats really need to be balanced well and they are amazing Craft
CheersAdam

[Noelm]

Never ever been in any 18' Sharkcat that broached!

[Flex]

Cheers Adam,

I own a podded 560. I've got f115 yamahas on it at so its super bum heavy. Wet feet isn't so bad in north qld:)

im still in early stages of testing but I must say I was a bit disappointed in how it rode head on. Banged just as hard as my 5.2kc if not more. I felt I was unable to trim the nose up as easily or as high as I'd like.
im going to trial permatrims to help with a bit more nose trim. As well as whack some new kevlacat pods on it for more bum lift. I'm hoping this will help get it out of the water a bit more.

Adam did you notice much difference n trim from podded to standard sc?

as for following sea, I felt it ran very well. Bit more difficult to walk it like a 5.2kc so not as fun to drive but wasn't really needed. Definitely goes harder than a 5.2 following due to more length and stable in the water. i would have assumed heavier motors would inhibit any broaching tendencies.

[adam sharkcat]

Hey Flex
The podded Shark cat seemed to ride Flat!!! could get that flighty feel with the trim,went out quite a few times and the podded cat felt like a bull dozer ,the transom Cat was completely different great trim response up and down,although the podded version handled the following sea better
saying that ,i think the later transom Shark cat wasn't as good and the 1980 model shark cat boat,it was incredible!!!
This 20fter that i am rebuilding will be going with the transom mount,no pods
cheers Adam

[fishtragic]

Hey Noel,
I doubt if any single sterndrive 18's are still about but if you see one and you need some excitement in your life try to get a ride in it in a following sea. Probably a function of not being able to trim up enough combined with lack of grunt. Not knocking Sharkcat perse just the dog I owned but hey I was young, broke and on the early slope of a learning curve. The harder you pushed it the better it performed in any sort of head sea up to the blinding top speed of 27 knots.

[fishtragic]

Sorry Adam,
didn't mean to hijack the thread, just couldn't help reminiscing.

[Dean1]

Fishtragic theres an 18 for sale on Boat sales qld atm with a 140hp turbo volvo. Blue in colour.
Ive never been in one but my last boat was a 1985 18 Sharkcat welled model 2 x 90s and it rode excellent couldnt fault it.
Nothing worse than a bad performing boat in a following sea, im still getting over that Lightning i once owned!

[Noelm]

An 18' Sharkcat, with 90's or 115's is a very forgiving boat, you could do everything wrong, and they still came up smelling like roses! That said, they had a few "features" that weren't so hot!

[Dean1]

The 18 Sharky we sold a few yrs ago has just come back up for sale again on boatsales.
Great boat at 23k im half tempted@

[adam sharkcat]

Deano now yr Talkin
Come back to the CAT Club, Lol
They always Turn heads at the Ramps,especially if you drive like the Solo Man!!!!!!

[adam sharkcat]

Update on progress on the rebuild of my 20 footer
With a few beers and deep thoughts ,going to chop the rear section out and go with a walkout transom112852112851
Start up the chainsaw lol!!!
here are the latest pics
Cheers Adam

[ozynorts]

To add pics you need to use the go advanced button and import them to AF first then add to your post.

[Mupster]

Whatever happened to this 20ft rebuild?

[Dr FuManchu]

Hey Mupster check this link on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209517141580936&set=pcb.1433058783437906&type=3&theater

[Mupster]

Hey Mupster check this link on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209517141580936&set=pcb.1433058783437906&type=3&theater

Dr FuManchu you just made my year. I was running out of research reading material and know I'm set for the next six weeks of my rehab. Thanks.

[Mupster]

Looks great but I liked the old yellow better!


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[adam sharkcat]

Looks great but I liked the old yellow better!


Sent from my iPhone using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)Hey Fellas
It's been a while since last time
Here she finally is completely restored
Cheers Adam
117031117032117033117034117035117036

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[Dignity]

Well done, very slick looking rig

[BigE]

Very sweet
whats the fuel damage with the 150s ?


BigE

[Noelm]

Looks pretty flash, a lot better than they did when brand new! good boat in their day, not a lot of 20's left, not sure how many were built, lots of 23's and 18's, but not many of those.

[BigE]

Yep used an 18 for a while and then went to a 23 , loved the 18 but the 23 was more of a commercial type of vessel i think a 20 would be spot on.

fuel burn of twin two strokes was the biggest pain in there day, twin 90 yammies on an 18 was a pretty stout rig in there day punched well above there weight.

if there only etc fuel economy back in the day. really interested in Adam's fuel burn with etc's

BigE

[Greg P]

You hit that out of the park Adam. Beautiful boat.

[adam sharkcat]

Hey Greg
Here's another 20 just rebuilt
This one's a slightly later hull 1980

You hit that out of the park Adam. Beautiful boat.121076121077121078

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[adam sharkcat]

Hey All
She completely done
Here's what she looks like today fellas
20ft Harris Cat 123772123773123774

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[Noelm]

I wonder how many of these are hiding in backyards and places like sheds and farms? On a different note, just this morning I saw an old GT Falcon, in original condition, covered in dust on a car trailer, the guy found it sitting in a garage and bought it, must be dozens of sought after cars and boats just waiting to be found and restored.

[Lovey80]

The windscreen on this rebuild just makes the boat look so much better than original. The walk through transom with duckboard between the engines is awesome too.

[catshark]

yep love that windscreen look , like a Edencraft style look , top job

[Lovey80]

The windscreen on this rebuild just makes the boat look so much better than original. The walk through transom with duckboard between the engines is awesome too.

adam are those window supports glass or aluminium?

on your next one please do a full height cabin with hard top so we can all see how good it looks. ;D

[adam sharkcat]

adam are those window supports glass or aluminium?

on your next one please do a full height cabin with hard top so we can all see how good it looks. ;Dbreaker is glass
the windows are supported with stainless steel frames and glued together

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