Pod design for 18ft Shark Cat

[Master4Med2]

I'm at the stage of choosing a pod design for my Shark Cat centre console, that will perform well and handle the weight of a modern 4 stroke.
I have found a couple of designs, that I think would work well, however has anybody seen or herd anything that has worked well ?
I will be building my own from Coosa and glass.
I have a few pictures of pods, I think may work.

Sea-Trek17_zps559bfc27.jpg
IMG_2326.jpg
Sea-Trek14_zpsd8295ea4.jpg
Regards
Con

[Short Fuse]

Hi Con.

Here is a photo of the stern of my old 1989 Shark Cat Sportsman 500 after we re-powered it with 4 strokes. It originally had smaller alloy pods which were no problems with the 70hp Yamaha 2 stroke outboards. I had larger alloy pods manufactured by the bloke who originally started Sportfish boats and he designed them with the ability to carry the weight of the Suzuki 70hp 4 strokes. They worked well and I never had any problems with the outboards burying. Not long after I had mine done, another local who also has a Sportsman 500 took measurements of my pods and soon after had his hull repowered with 70 Yamaha 4 strokes. He also is very happy with his hull and how it performs with the 4 stroke motors. He owns a house on Moreton Island, and uses his boat to get his family to and from the island.



These pods are stepped up from the hull line, and there is enough room to mount an Airmar P66 transducer under them. It worked well and I had no troubles getting good sounder readings on my Furuno 587 with that set up at all speeds that I did with the boat. I had some concerns about the boats ability to carry the extra weight of the 4 strokes initially. The original pods were a much smaller alloy set. A mate of mine got some sheets of foam and shaped them to go around the pods to bulk them up to the size of the new pods. We used a couple of rolls of duct tape to put it all together and took it to the local ramp and dropped it in the water ( got some very strange looks and comments). We then placed buckets of water along the transom line to simulate the extra weight of the 4 strokes to allow us to measure where the hull would sit in the water with the extra weight. Then we did the same by putting a couple of big blokes at the transom as well to make sure that we would not have any problems in a fishing situation with water coming back onto the floor through the self draining flap in the stern. Once I was happy that we would not have any problems, I went ahead and re-powered the boat. I never regretted doing the re-power, with the bonus being a near 30% improvement in fuel economy. I used to work on an average of 1.1km per litre with the 2 strokes and got an average of 1.4km per litre with the 4 strokes.

Photos 1 and 3 that you put up are of the pods on my Seatrek5900. I am extremely happy with them. Obviously they are custom made for the Seatrek hull, but they carry the 115hp Suzuki 4 strokes without any problems and also no signs of burying the outboards in any weather I have been out in. What I particularly like about these pods is that I was able to have a 1kw Airmar B164 transducer flush mounted through the bottom of the port pod. The transducer is a zero degree offset transducer so it shoots straight down and I get exceptional sounder readings in all conditions whilst under way. I also like it that the transducer in this set up is not driven up over the trailer skids when driving the boat onto the trailer, and in the event it does develop a leak around the transducer, it will only fill up the pod, rather than putting water directly into the hull.

If you can build yourself a set of pods similar to the seatrek design to fit your 18 Shark Cat then I think you will be happy with their performance.

cheers

Jeff

[Noelm]

I had some pictures of the original pods somewhere, but I think they may have been on my old computer, should be able to google some maybe, did you cut the motor wells out? Post some pictures if you have.

[Short Fuse]

Hi Noel.

Not sure if your question was about my Shark Cat, but in case it was... No alterations made to the transom of the boat. That as how it came out of the factory, and as I understand it was the format that they named as the Sportsman model. As it was told to me by the bloke I bought the boat off, Shark Cat made these changes to the old 16' hull after Kevla Cat bought out the 17 foot hull with podded transom. Shark Cat changed their moulds taking out the old engine bays and putting a walk through in the transom between the motors. They came out with a set of small aluminium pods that were very similar to the old KC ones. I do have a fair few photos of this boat in my old archives so I will try to find a few myself and post them up.

That boat was built in 1989 and carried serial number 1098. A good mate Ian Nobbs (the bloke who first built the Raider Cats) had the boat built before my hull. His had a burgundy stripe along the side and was named Conquest. It is still up here in the Brisbane area, as is the one owned by the bloke with the house on Moreton Island. All 3 hulls are identical in the transom design and layout. It was a brilliant little cat and served me very well for over 20 years. I only upgraded to the bigger boat to allow us to do multi day trips off the top of Fraser Island and off 1770 in a bit more comfort. The little cats only shortcomings were lack of bunks and underfloor fuel storage, and its penchant for taking the top off the next wave when running in a following sea. Boy did you learn to duck under the level of the windscreen quickly when that happened.

When I find a few photos. I will post them up here, or will resurrect the "Show us your Pussy" thread and place them there.

cheers

Jeff

[Noelm]

No, sorry, I was referring to "masters" centre console he is looking to pod.

[Master4Med2]

Jeff, thank you for taking the time to respond.
The pod design on your Seatrek are just about perfect for my Shark Cat. Today I spoke to a friend, whom also happens to be a Navel Architect, he strongly suggest that the pods be full length and not stepped.
He also suggested that I should build half pods and redesign the stern to have similar recess as yours, allowing the outboards to reach there maximum tilt as well as keeping the weight of the outboards as close to the hull as possible without sacrificing internal space.
I have seen a picture of the inside of the port side pod showing the transducer installation, another plus for full length pod. I do have one question though, how do you drain the hull of water if it finds its way in ? ( no drain hole from hull to pod )
I will be fitting Suzuki 90’s , although I would like 115’s but the weight would be to great for a centre console.

Noelm, I’ll try and get some updated pictures for you, as soon as I come back from my holiday to Sydney. Who in there right mind would go to Sydney for there holidays ? People who live in Cairns with relatives in Sydney.
Here is a picture of the standard pod.

DSC_0539.jpg

Regards
Con

[Noelm]

Yeah, that's them, the original ones worked well, I would try to replicate them as close as possible, how long you in Sydney for? I am about an hour or so South.

[Master4Med2]

Noelm,
I will be staying at Sylvania waters the next two weeks.

[lembo]

hey that's my sharkcat in the picture. this pic was from before I owned it. the standard pods are pretty small and are fine with anything like a 90 2 stroke or even 90 suzukis .But ive got twin 115 4 stroke yammies so ive got some kevlacat pods im getting welded up for some more boyancy and putting on soon as they are way bigger and will float the heavy bum a bit more. in saying that the boat still working perfectly fine with the old pods and the 115s. if you want photos or measurement of original pods just let me know.