Wye 13-6

[makenmend]

Lots of sanding (sound familiar?) then fill coats. Ply boat gets paint to hide thin veneer blush[img]http://i469.photobucket.com/albums ... .jpg[/img]

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[jem]

Ok I saw one pic of you in the water while you were standing and paddling. Now let's hear the FULL report! This one has been a while in the making.

[makenmend]

OK sorry for delay, went to the TKF boatbuilders roundup on Inks lake Sat 15th, boats not finished but ready enough for float testing,then directly after the roundup left for the coast for real world testing.
1st impression,with boat floating stepping in for a clutz was easy
shifting wieght to side secondary stability real good.
paddling, seated on tunnel catching the gunnels on low angle,ok with hi angle,raised seat should fix this.didn't have gps for speed, but seat of pants feel is pretty good for beamy boat.
Dosn't want to turn,but will if persuaded with good sweep or paddle/rudder.tracks straight as a die, and has suprisingly good glide.
And finaly the reason I started this, could I stand and flycast
[img]http://i469.photobucket.com/albums ... .jpg[/img]

[makenmend]

Real world test even tho I have a very poor sence of balance I can stand and flyfish at 1st a little shaky but with practice I became more confident and the hi gunnels that interferes with paddling is a real benefit when it comes to standing and sitting for this old fart.In a mild breeze (10 - 15 mph) holding course in any quarter is a easy,wednesday with winds 20 + gusting to 31 things were different (suprise ) heading back with the wind about 20 degrees off my bow I was slowly veering off my heading but due to the tunnel hull/ tracking it was controlable and a couple of stokes had me on track, I sure got a good workout and feel it today.
Anyway Matt I think you have met your goal+. I can't compare it to the native ultimate as yet, but my OK drifter was always my yardstick for stability and I could stand in it but never actualy fish, I can now thanks a bunch.

[makenmend]

hope this isn't boring,few more pics from Inks lake [img]http://i469.photobucket.com/albums ... .jpg[/img]
[img]http://i469.photobucket.com/albums ... .jpg[/img]
[img]http://i469.photobucket.com/albums ... .jpg[/img]

[makenmend]

test with grandaughter as standup subject [img]http://i469.photobucket.com/albums ... .jpg[/img]

The boats[url][/url]

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[jem]

Excellent!

I figured she would like to turn but that's the trade off. Great job on the build(s).

[jem]

Oops make that I figured she would "not" like to turn.

Making a custom seat base that can slide to different positions should be a snap. I intended for it to have a higher seating position. That will make paddling easier.

[makenmend]

Ok finaly got round to weighing, the strip boat comes in at 38.5 lb and the ply boat 53.2 lb

MM

started cutting my panels for the TV 15-29

[jem]

Ok finaly got round to weighing, the strip boat comes in at 38.5 lb and the ply boat 53.2 lb

wow that's a big difference! Figure the home improvement store ply is about 20% heavier than Okoume. So a boat built with okoume could have been about 42 lbs.