(peterMelbourneAustralia) wrote in message . com...
Boat weights part 2.

Have looked at 12ft tinnies and they seem to weight approx 80kg
(176lb).

At the instantboats.com site there was a boat called a cartopper at
92lb which equals 42kg (more suited to dad than a large 15ft boat).

Feel that a ply boat a little more substantial and thus heavier than
the cartopper is what I am looking for. The lighter the better I
feel. Based on this tinnies appear abuot 50% heavier again than an
equivalent ply boat.

The boat is intended to be powered by my dad's 5hp outboard.

N. Peter Evans

Dynamite is a friend but he would have me tell it how I see it so he
should not mind. Cartopper like any other crossover / catchall boat
has it's limitations. I have built a couple of them and been in them
too. See link:
http://smallboats.com/boats_cartopper.htm
The problem with cartopper is that it is really in my limited opinion
a one person boat and for sailing or oar, not for fishing. This boat
with its round sides and lots of rocker has very little "useable"
floor space. It is a great boat if you are sitting in the center,
beyond that she is real tender. After building one for a local we went
out for a spin with his 2 horse. We had to get in the middle of the
boat and move to the ends and stay put to keep this boat level in the
water. One person could not sit in the rear, you would need a tiller
extension and when the local went out by himself he put 150 pounds of
sand in the bow so he could sit at the stern, takes the sand out if
his wife wants to come along then with all the rocker it is like
sitting on the top ends of a balanced banana. This is probably not the
boat for your dad.

You may have to compromise, I still suggest Diablo, or maybe even
something, ugh, flat bottom like this boat, flat bottom boats although
wet and less seaworthy are great fishing and just general screwing off
platforms, especially for someone elderly who may start to lose
balance and agility much sooner than the desire to go boating:
http://rbbpix.com/builders_01.htm
http://smallboats.com/stanley_sie.htm
Stanley can be built at about 135 pounds and will do just fine with a
5 horse, or even a two. Anyway, it is a real stable platform with all
of the floor space being useable without upsetting the stability. A
couple of fishermen can lean over one edge and not swamp it too. I
don't sell the plans for this boat yet, but if you want to build one
get with me through the website contact page and I will give you some
drawings which should provide enough info to get you going, lines and
such, very straight up build, be happy to help you help your dad stay
on the water.
Scotty, sorry guys, it's building season, have no time for
spellcheckers today!