I hesitate to suggest this in relation to boat building except that you
might be able to make some difficult shapes with this technique. (and
create hard points)

Braking aluminum can be a real challenge. Especially if you want to make a
sharp corner in a long piece of sheet. A brake that will handle an 8' piece
of .125 is gonna cost some serious bucks. More than the average backyard
boat builder is going to want to spend. (never mind the wealthy tool whores
or that I would have one if I could afford it)

I have used this technique for making some support angle in other than 90
deg applications. I've only done this with .125 5052. The longest bend I
have made this way so far is about 3 feet. Cut the sheet half thickness
along a line. I used my table saw to do this. Clamp the sheet to a rigid
surface. I used a cast iron table saw and a piece of 3/8 angle iron. I
also clamped 1/4 aluminum plate to the free side to help keep it rigid and
straight. Bend in a moderately fast single motion to the desired angle.
Depending on what angle you are trying to reach and the size piece you are
working with this can be easier than you think.

At this point I hade a piece with a very nice small radius outside bend, and
the angle I desired. I made several pieces like this for one project that
had an inside angle of about 70 degrees. Of course the piece is very weak
at this point (thickness) and very hard (work hardening) along the bend.
Its almost impossible to bend it again if you didn't get it right the first
time. Instead you wind up distorting the legs of your angle.

Lets assume the piece would be at the correct angle at this point. Then I
took a good stainless brush and polished the inside of the angled and then
welded a bead right down the inside. No worries about air contamination
since there is no opening to the other side. No back chipping necessary.
If you get your rig setup just right you will see you can get almost perfect
penetration by looking at the other side. It welds very fast, and each
piece is trapped to the other piece by the remaining portion of the cut
groove.

I experimented a little with different pieces at this point. Some I lock
stitched and back filled and others I just welded as fast as I could go
(once I got dialed in for the heat and the thickness) from one end to the
other. Eyeballing with a good straight edge both pieces came out pretty
square and straight. I would probably still stay with the lock stitch and
backfill technique because there might be hidden stresses in the metal you
just can't see without some more involve testing.

Ok, you might ask. "You used this technique to make some non critical
support brackets. What is the big deal?"

The temptation.

Think about a blue printed fiberglass racing pad... like on a modern bass
boat. Oh!

Yeah. Now you see the point. You could make a really sharp square racing
pad this way out of aluminum. Sharp edges on a pad means fast. Some of the
guys who race boats like this have the edges of the pad so sharp they will
almost cut you. That sharp a corner would not be possible even with this
technique, but it would be a thousand times sharper than you could do on a
sheet metal brake.

Now comes the part that makes me scared to try this technique. By making a
sharp corner like that you are creating a hard point. Is the weld on the
inside going to account for that. I don't know, and I don't know how to
find out. It is certainly a very critical location on the boat. Its
taking all the force of running and pounding and flexing of the entire boat.
The only thing under more stress is the transom which at speed is carrying
the entire weight of the boat suspended in the air.

I suppose you could use a v-groove cutter on a router to get a better cut
with thicker aluminum. Obviously the technique would need to be adjusted
and modified based on material thickness, angle, desired size of weld bead
etc...

You might argue you could just corner weld two pieces of sheet together and
for some shapes you would have no choice. (curve along a line) There are
some things about corner welding two pieces. To do a perfect job you need
to weld it twice for one thing. Weld the inside. Back chip the outside,
and then weld the outside. You are going to get some distortion of your
associated planes. You are going to get a lumpy weld (by comparison) not a
nice clean sharp corner. Although I suppose you could over weld and build
up your bead and then grind back to square. I have done a couple pieces
this way also just to see what I would get. For small stuff you could not
tell, but with my level of skill as a welder I could see some distortion in
the sheets only as long as 2 or 3 feet when I threw my straight edge on
them.

I have had this process floating around in my head for a year. Now its time
for you to tear it apart.

On Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:17:37 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I hesitate to suggest this in relation to boat building except that you
might be able to make some difficult shapes with this technique. (and
create hard points)

Braking aluminum can be a real challenge. Especially if you want to make a
sharp corner in a long piece of sheet. A brake that will handle an 8' piece
of .125 is gonna cost some serious bucks. More than the average backyard
boat builder is going to want to spend. (never mind the wealthy tool whores
or that I would have one if I could afford it)

I have used this technique for making some support angle in other than 90
deg applications. I've only done this with .125 5052. The longest bend I
have made this way so far is about 3 feet. Cut the sheet half thickness
along a line. I used my table saw to do this. Clamp the sheet to a rigid
surface. I used a cast iron table saw and a piece of 3/8 angle iron. I
also clamped 1/4 aluminum plate to the free side to help keep it rigid and
straight. Bend in a moderately fast single motion to the desired angle.
Depending on what angle you are trying to reach and the size piece you are
working with this can be easier than you think.

At this point I hade a piece with a very nice small radius outside bend, and
the angle I desired. I made several pieces like this for one project that
had an inside angle of about 70 degrees. Of course the piece is very weak
at this point (thickness) and very hard (work hardening) along the bend.
Its almost impossible to bend it again if you didn't get it right the first
time. Instead you wind up distorting the legs of your angle.

Lets assume the piece would be at the correct angle at this point. Then I
took a good stainless brush and polished the inside of the angled and then
welded a bead right down the inside. No worries about air contamination
since there is no opening to the other side. No back chipping necessary.
If you get your rig setup just right you will see you can get almost perfect
penetration by looking at the other side. It welds very fast, and each
piece is trapped to the other piece by the remaining portion of the cut
groove.

I experimented a little with different pieces at this point. Some I lock
stitched and back filled and others I just welded as fast as I could go
(once I got dialed in for the heat and the thickness) from one end to the
other. Eyeballing with a good straight edge both pieces came out pretty
square and straight. I would probably still stay with the lock stitch and
backfill technique because there might be hidden stresses in the metal you
just can't see without some more involve testing.

Ok, you might ask. "You used this technique to make some non critical
support brackets. What is the big deal?"

The temptation.

Think about a blue printed fiberglass racing pad... like on a modern bass
boat. Oh!

Yeah. Now you see the point. You could make a really sharp square racing
pad this way out of aluminum. Sharp edges on a pad means fast. Some of the
guys who race boats like this have the edges of the pad so sharp they will
almost cut you. That sharp a corner would not be possible even with this
technique, but it would be a thousand times sharper than you could do on a
sheet metal brake.

Now comes the part that makes me scared to try this technique. By making a
sharp corner like that you are creating a hard point. Is the weld on the
inside going to account for that. I don't know, and I don't know how to
find out. It is certainly a very critical location on the boat. Its
taking all the force of running and pounding and flexing of the entire boat.
The only thing under more stress is the transom which at speed is carrying
the entire weight of the boat suspended in the air.

I suppose you could use a v-groove cutter on a router to get a better cut
with thicker aluminum. Obviously the technique would need to be adjusted
and modified based on material thickness, angle, desired size of weld bead
etc...

You might argue you could just corner weld two pieces of sheet together and
for some shapes you would have no choice. (curve along a line) There are
some things about corner welding two pieces. To do a perfect job you need
to weld it twice for one thing. Weld the inside. Back chip the outside,
and then weld the outside. You are going to get some distortion of your
associated planes. You are going to get a lumpy weld (by comparison) not a
nice clean sharp corner. Although I suppose you could over weld and build
up your bead and then grind back to square. I have done a couple pieces
this way also just to see what I would get. For small stuff you could not
tell, but with my level of skill as a welder I could see some distortion in
the sheets only as long as 2 or 3 feet when I threw my straight edge on
them.

I have had this process floating around in my head for a year. Now its time
for you to tear it apart.

I suppose the most logical question is "why". Yes, you can bend
aluminum at a sharper angle and have a less radiused bend by thinning
the aluminum at the fold line but what is the necessity for this
fabrication?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "racing pad" but I can't see any
correlation between sharp and speed. Unless you mean that the hard
chines have a sharp edge whereby they are more effective in combating
lateral forces?

I agree, that if one is determined to use this sort of bend that one
can probably design something that necessitates it but it is doubtful
that it is really necessary.

In addition, I do not believe that, providing you are talking about
lengths usually found in boat building, say chine logs, that run the
length of the boat that warping will not be a problem. You say you can
see some warping in a 3 ft. piece... What about 45 ft. chines on a
sail boat?

My assessment, for whatever it is worth, is that "your" system is
certainly viable and, depending on the size of the weld bead, may even
be stronger then a simple bend, however... It takes more time to make
and will be more costly as well as offering more chances of error in
manufacture then alternate methods.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

"Bruce In Bangkok" wrote in message


I suppose the most logical question is "why". Yes, you can bend
aluminum at a sharper angle and have a less radiused bend by thinning
the aluminum at the fold line but what is the necessity for this
fabrication?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "racing pad" but I can't see any
correlation between sharp and speed. Unless you mean that the hard
chines have a sharp edge whereby they are more effective in combating
lateral forces?

On certain types of boats there is a narrow "pad" along the keel about a
foot wide. This will vary based on design, weight, and over all size of the
boat. At high speeds the boat is running mostly on this pad. Far be it
from me to explain the dynamics of it, (I'm just parroting what the speed
junkies say here) but there are a couple things that can improve speed. I
certainly do not know all the design characteristics that contribute to
optimum design, but one of them is supposed to be the sharpness of the edge
of this pad. Perhaps it has something to due with the way it sheds water or
breaks the surface tension of the water. Another is a rough rather than
smooth finish to the bottom of the pad. That most definitely has to do with
breaking the surface tension of the water. Like a shark skin bathing suit
or the finish on certain high tech racing sail boats.

I agree, that if one is determined to use this sort of bend that one
can probably design something that necessitates it but it is doubtful
that it is really necessary.

Well, obviously if the goal does not involve eeking 1 more MPH out of your
hull's top speed there's no point. LOL. Pun intended.

In addition, I do not believe that, providing you are talking about
lengths usually found in boat building, say chine logs, that run the
length of the boat that warping will not be a problem.

I think it would be much less of a problem than with two separate pieces
joined to make the same edge.

You say you can
see some warping in a 3 ft. piece... What about 45 ft. chines on a
sail boat?

Ah, see. Now I know you didn't understand what I wrote. I saw that kind of
warping in pieces that long that were welded together to form the edge. Not
in a single piece thinned and folded. Big difference. My apologies for not
being clear. When you start with one piece that is bent to form an angle
its going to be much more rigid than two pieces stuck together. The
remaining metal that holds the two legs of the angle together will not allow
them to expand and contract at different rates due to vagaries in welding
technique. I was mostly trying to point out that after I had completed my
initial work pieces I experimented some to see what else worked and how it
worked.

My assessment, for whatever it is worth,

Its worth a lot. If I do not look at ideas from a different point of view I
can't see what's wrong with them or how to make them better. It forces me
to engage my brain.

is that "your" system is
certainly viable and, depending on the size of the weld bead, may even
be stronger then a simple bend, however... It takes more time to make
and will be more costly as well as offering more chances of error in
manufacture then alternate methods.

Like? Roller bending? Edge welding two pieces? Braking?

Well, I don't know what you can do with roller bending, but they use it to
put longitudinal creases in sheet for strength. Not sure how it would apply
in this case anyway. I guess it might be an alternative way to make my
thinned and folded edge instead of the brute force method I used before. It
might make doing this more practical on longer pieces.

Edge welding. No way. To do an ideal corner weld you have to weld it
twice. I covered that. Most commercial mass production builders don't, but
a lot of their boats crack too. Weld, back chip, weld.

Braking? Well see this one is arguable. A brake is a tried and true
method. It works and its fast. If you can afford one big enough to do the
job. At this time I can't. It will definitely not make a bend as sharp as
the process I describe.

I can setup a built rig to bend "thinned" metal. I am sure the weld will be
better than two pieces edge welded in less time. IN GENERAL... There is
some grey area about the actual deep corner of the inside of the bend. I
guess to resolve that I would need to weld up some more pieces and then
slice it up to see if I get those corner voids I fear. If it gets a void in
it then there is a very thin bit of aluminum on the outside which could
break through easily. Not an issue for one outing or even a dozen, but it
could create a pocket that could trap water. We know about trapped water
and aluminum over time. Big potential problem.

The ability to perform the process is not in question. The reason is in
question depending on your goals.

My reason for considering the idea is building an aluminum boat that will
out run a glass boat in the same size class. ie to take advantage of the
weight savings with out throwing them away on hull shape.

My biggest concern would be the stresses on this very sharp hard point.

A hard point (as I am sure you already know) is a corner, turn, or bend in
the design of a boat or other structure that may concentrate the stress from
external forces due to a fast or abrupt change in shape. That's why we
often see stress cracks in the gel coat of glass boats in the corners of the
top cap. Its also why we see cracks at the weld in the back corner of a lot
of older Trackers and some other boats or at the front corners of square jon
boats. (HAZ and alloy selection not withstanding.)

P.S. Thank you. A different point of view is appreciated.

Bob La Londe wrote:
/snip/
I took a good stainless brush and polished the inside of the angled and
then welded a bead right down the inside. No worries about air
contamination since there is no opening to the other side. No back
chipping necessary.


Wire-feed? Mig? Tig? Bronze weld stick??

Brian W

On Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:02:23 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

"Bruce In Bangkok" wrote in message


I suppose the most logical question is "why". Yes, you can bend
aluminum at a sharper angle and have a less radiused bend by thinning
the aluminum at the fold line but what is the necessity for this
fabrication?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "racing pad" but I can't see any
correlation between sharp and speed. Unless you mean that the hard
chines have a sharp edge whereby they are more effective in combating
lateral forces?

On certain types of boats there is a narrow "pad" along the keel about a
foot wide. This will vary based on design, weight, and over all size of the
boat. At high speeds the boat is running mostly on this pad. Far be it
from me to explain the dynamics of it, (I'm just parroting what the speed
junkies say here) but there are a couple things that can improve speed. I
certainly do not know all the design characteristics that contribute to
optimum design, but one of them is supposed to be the sharpness of the edge
of this pad. Perhaps it has something to due with the way it sheds water or
breaks the surface tension of the water. Another is a rough rather than
smooth finish to the bottom of the pad. That most definitely has to do with
breaking the surface tension of the water. Like a shark skin bathing suit
or the finish on certain high tech racing sail boats.

I agree, that if one is determined to use this sort of bend that one
can probably design something that necessitates it but it is doubtful
that it is really necessary.

Well, obviously if the goal does not involve eeking 1 more MPH out of your
hull's top speed there's no point. LOL. Pun intended.

In addition, I do not believe that, providing you are talking about
lengths usually found in boat building, say chine logs, that run the
length of the boat that warping will not be a problem.

I think it would be much less of a problem than with two separate pieces
joined to make the same edge.

You say you can
see some warping in a 3 ft. piece... What about 45 ft. chines on a
sail boat?

Ah, see. Now I know you didn't understand what I wrote. I saw that kind of
warping in pieces that long that were welded together to form the edge. Not
in a single piece thinned and folded. Big difference. My apologies for not
being clear. When you start with one piece that is bent to form an angle
its going to be much more rigid than two pieces stuck together. The
remaining metal that holds the two legs of the angle together will not allow
them to expand and contract at different rates due to vagaries in welding
technique. I was mostly trying to point out that after I had completed my
initial work pieces I experimented some to see what else worked and how it
worked.

My assessment, for whatever it is worth,

Its worth a lot. If I do not look at ideas from a different point of view I
can't see what's wrong with them or how to make them better. It forces me
to engage my brain.

is that "your" system is
certainly viable and, depending on the size of the weld bead, may even
be stronger then a simple bend, however... It takes more time to make
and will be more costly as well as offering more chances of error in
manufacture then alternate methods.

Like? Roller bending? Edge welding two pieces? Braking?

Well, I don't know what you can do with roller bending, but they use it to
put longitudinal creases in sheet for strength. Not sure how it would apply
in this case anyway. I guess it might be an alternative way to make my
thinned and folded edge instead of the brute force method I used before. It
might make doing this more practical on longer pieces.

Edge welding. No way. To do an ideal corner weld you have to weld it
twice. I covered that. Most commercial mass production builders don't, but
a lot of their boats crack too. Weld, back chip, weld.

Braking? Well see this one is arguable. A brake is a tried and true
method. It works and its fast. If you can afford one big enough to do the
job. At this time I can't. It will definitely not make a bend as sharp as
the process I describe.

I can setup a built rig to bend "thinned" metal. I am sure the weld will be
better than two pieces edge welded in less time. IN GENERAL... There is
some grey area about the actual deep corner of the inside of the bend. I
guess to resolve that I would need to weld up some more pieces and then
slice it up to see if I get those corner voids I fear. If it gets a void in
it then there is a very thin bit of aluminum on the outside which could
break through easily. Not an issue for one outing or even a dozen, but it
could create a pocket that could trap water. We know about trapped water
and aluminum over time. Big potential problem.

The ability to perform the process is not in question. The reason is in
question depending on your goals.

My reason for considering the idea is building an aluminum boat that will
out run a glass boat in the same size class. ie to take advantage of the
weight savings with out throwing them away on hull shape.

My biggest concern would be the stresses on this very sharp hard point.

A hard point (as I am sure you already know) is a corner, turn, or bend in
the design of a boat or other structure that may concentrate the stress from
external forces due to a fast or abrupt change in shape. That's why we
often see stress cracks in the gel coat of glass boats in the corners of the
top cap. Its also why we see cracks at the weld in the back corner of a lot
of older Trackers and some other boats or at the front corners of square jon
boats. (HAZ and alloy selection not withstanding.)

I wish that you could point me at a url showing this "speed pad" as I
can't seem to visualize it, nor can I find more then the words, i.e.,
has a speed pad. I am somewhat familiar with the hulls of both three
point hulls (the old speed boat hulls with the sponsons) and more
modern open ocean racing stuff, but the speed pad defeats me

True that corners can be stress risers, or hard points, but simply
having a sharp corner does not cause cracking, it simply provides a
location where, assuming that the item is incorrectly designed,
stresses will concentrate. So, if you have an item that is not
designed to resist the forces applied to it a sharp corner will be the
likely location for deformation to occur.

Again, as I previously wrote, if you want to use a bent/welded
structure then you will certainly be able to design a need for it :-)

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

"brian whatcott" wrote in message
...
Bob La Londe wrote:
/snip/
I took a good stainless brush and polished the inside of the angled and
then welded a bead right down the inside. No worries about air
contamination since there is no opening to the other side. No back
chipping necessary.


Wire-feed? Mig? Tig? Bronze weld stick??

My work pieces and experimental pieces were MIG welded with a big blue 212
is 5000 series wire (I can never remember without looking it up) on 5052
..125 sheet.

"Bruce In Bangkok" wrote in message
...

I wish that you could point me at a url showing this "speed pad" as I
can't seem to visualize it, nor can I find more then the words, i.e.,
has a speed pad. I am somewhat familiar with the hulls of both three
point hulls (the old speed boat hulls with the sponsons) and more
modern open ocean racing stuff, but the speed pad defeats me


Most modern high performance fiberglass bass boats made today have a pad
style bottom atleast to some degree. Fast Cat (tunnel) and a few shallow V
and pocket tunnel flats boats being the exceptions.

http://www.bwbmag.com/output.cfm?id=1122481 "When we think of a bass boat,
we typically envision a modified V hull, with a pad bottom, and more often
than not, an extended transom/built-in jackplate. Pretty cool stuff, right?
"

Kinda goes to the argument that it's a pretty common thing if that's what
"we typically envision."

Here is an aluminum one, but I do not like their design. Most are flatter,
although a lot of Rangers have a semi V pad like that. I mostly do not like
the sandwiched or layer construction for aluminum as it can trap water.
Their V pad might be the most efficient design for some setups, or possibley
the best compromise: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6666162.html

Here is a picture of the inside the hull for one under construction. The
outside view would be much more defined.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/b...lassonhull.jpg

I am finding that there is an amazing dearth of pictures online of the
bottom of bass boats. I am finding myself headed out to the shop to take
pictures of the bottom of my Basscat.

Here is a view from the transom:
http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/shelf-001.gif

And here is another from underneath. I played with the colors and the
contrast so that you could see it's a fairly long structure on the bottom of
the boat. About half the length of the boat.
http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/shelf-002.gif

The boat in the last two pictures is not particularly fast as bass boats in
this size class go. Its being pushed by a factory stock Mercury 250 Pro XS
that dynos out at about 260-270 prop shaft horsepower depending on
elevation, temperature, humidity, etc. It's a 20 foot 4 inch fiberglass
boat and it weighs about 3000 lbs give or take depending on fuel, livewells,
gear, driver, and passengers, etc. I have GPSed it at 74+ MPH (statute
miles) with a pretty good load. With this particular boat I have been able
to average 60+ in 3 foot chop for a 30+ mile run in a tournament. There are
guys running a slightly different prop getting 78-79 out of this same hull
with what we call a "full tournament load." I picked the prop that gave me
the better hole shot. I also have a sloppy hydraulic jack plate on this
boat which I need to replace. I imagine it complicates my high speed
driving a bit. Similar lighter boats the same size will run high 80s and
there are a few pushing the century mark. I'm talking production 20 foot
class fiberglass "modified V" pad bottom boats with a factory configuration
250 Pro XS motor. Not a hot rodded motor or a blue printed hull.

Allison I am sure has several semi custom 20' glass composite pad Vs that
will break 100 MPH in his stable running similar horsepower. He holds
enough world records. He doesn't like the new 3 liter motors much though.
Too heavy for his favorite boats.

I am most definitely not grasping at some obscure concept as you seem to
imply. Skeeter, Ranger, Triton, Champion, Procraft, Nitro, Allison, Bullet,
Gambler, Blazer, Bass Cat, Hydrasports, etc all use a modified V pad bottom
design in some form. It is not a new concept. Its been around for atleast
25 years that I know of first hand. Our first pad bottom boat was a 20'
Hydrasport back in the mid 1980s. We ran an Evirnrude 235 race motor on it,
we never had the nerve to find out how fast it would go. It was fast
enough.

To my knowledge none of the manufacturers make a production boat with super
sharp edges on the pad because they would wear off quickly in typical use,
and the edges would break easily compared to a rounded corner.

The only thing that might be in question is my belief from the hearsay of
professional boat builders and speed junkies that a sharp edge on the pad
can somehow improve top speed. I've certainly seen the hulls that have been
flipped over and trued up and the pads with the razor sharp corners.

A single sheet stamped and formed might be able to achieve all that
wonderfulness. The only stamp formed aluminum boat I am aware of the is the
Tracker Avalanche and it is discontinued. I also think it as not a pad
bottom, and it was welded right down the keel to join two piece. LOL. So
much for wonderfulness.

Yeah, I threw of non supporting side information in there, but I think it
makes for a more interesting read.

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...

I was looking at something else entirely when I ran across this.
http://www.allisonboats.com/skid_planer.php

He's hawking his lifting plate, but you can clearly see the pad on the rear
of the boat in the pictures.

On Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:44:31 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

"Bruce In Bangkok" wrote in message
.. .

I wish that you could point me at a url showing this "speed pad" as I
can't seem to visualize it, nor can I find more then the words, i.e.,
has a speed pad. I am somewhat familiar with the hulls of both three
point hulls (the old speed boat hulls with the sponsons) and more
modern open ocean racing stuff, but the speed pad defeats me


Most modern high performance fiberglass bass boats made today have a pad
style bottom atleast to some degree. Fast Cat (tunnel) and a few shallow V
and pocket tunnel flats boats being the exceptions.

http://www.bwbmag.com/output.cfm?id=1122481 "When we think of a bass boat,
we typically envision a modified V hull, with a pad bottom, and more often
than not, an extended transom/built-in jackplate. Pretty cool stuff, right?
"

Kinda goes to the argument that it's a pretty common thing if that's what
"we typically envision."

Here is an aluminum one, but I do not like their design. Most are flatter,
although a lot of Rangers have a semi V pad like that. I mostly do not like
the sandwiched or layer construction for aluminum as it can trap water.
Their V pad might be the most efficient design for some setups, or possibley
the best compromise: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6666162.html

Here is a picture of the inside the hull for one under construction. The
outside view would be much more defined.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/b...lassonhull.jpg

I am finding that there is an amazing dearth of pictures online of the
bottom of bass boats. I am finding myself headed out to the shop to take
pictures of the bottom of my Basscat.

Here is a view from the transom:
http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/shelf-001.gif

O.K. I see what you are talking about now. Essentially a flat bottomed
boat once you reach the optimum speed.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)