Welded Hull Draft Specs

[pickardjw]

I have a 19' Stryker inboard 2.5 Merc jet. As has been said the flat bottom pounds in waves. I like the tall gunnels, and the dog house is actually handy to lean against or sit on when I am fishing. Lots of storage.
Draft would be about 12" off plane, 4" on plane. I have been high centered a couple times (sand/soft mud) but have 'walked it off' pretty easily. "When in doubt, throttle out." Plenty of power. Tops out mid 40's in MPH.
It will plug with seaweed/seagrass when going slow at the dock if there is a lot of seagrass out. I will use the oar to move it away if there is a lot around the boat. I have not had to clear it by hand, but have shut it off to let the grass purge itself/float out, which usually works.
I like the boat overall but the weird way steering works on an inboard jet (steers swiveling around the center of the boat, reverse steering is backwards) can make dock handling in heavy currents and wind frustrating.

Thanks, that's a good reference point. Wonder if that'd be any different with an outboard pump setup...imagine a little more depth required to get up on plane but not much difference in running draft on plane.

[cavemann]

I had a 19" stryker with windshield years ago as well..  I fished Tacoma area, south sound, buoy 10 and up cowlitz, lewis, nisqually several times..  it drafted about 4-6" on plane with 4 in the boat..  I will say as has already been said, you can fish buoy 10 and sound no problem but it's a bumpy ride making runs in and out.

I don't know that I'd try to run a "sportsman" style boat up the rivers you mentioned without significant experience and knowledge of the rivers.  Guys running bigger boats with high power jets is not nearby type of operating.

You'll be able to find something that does both but if you want a river boat for skinny water I'd make sure it's the right boat for that and just deal with the downside of getting beat up a bit in bigger water.  If going windshield, get some air rides seats

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[pickardjw]

I had a 19" stryker with windshield years ago as well..  I fished Tacoma area, south sound, buoy 10 and up cowlitz, lewis, nisqually several times..  it drafted about 4-6" on plane with 4 in the boat..  I will say as has already been said, you can fish buoy 10 and sound no problem but it's a bumpy ride making runs in and out.

I don't know that I'd try to run a "sportsman" style boat up the rivers you mentioned without significant experience and knowledge of the rivers.  Guys running bigger boats with high power jets is not nearby type of operating.

You'll be able to find something that does both but if you want a river boat for skinny water I'd make sure it's the right boat for that and just deal with the downside of getting beat up a bit in bigger water.  If going windshield, get some air rides seats

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The 19' Stryker is popular! haha, agree on the air ride seats. First thing I thought of with such a bow forward helm in these boats.

[GWP]

I would think the draft would be the same with an outboard jet. Not sure about the low speed and docking handling in tides and wind with an outboard jet.
I have had a few regular deep V boats with prop outboards. For sure I would have torn up the out drive in some of the stuff I have been in with the inboard jet.
Different boats for different purposes for sure. All are a compromise one way or another.
The other thing is 2 stroke vs 4 stroke. The Mercury 2.5 is a 2 stroke with roller bearings on the crank and rods. Ethanol fuel can be a death sentence for them for a few reasons.
The oil injection system on the early ones could have some issues, so many were deleted, which means they now require premix. Just another step to go through but oil system failure is not a concern after the delete.

[metlhead]

I may be mistaken but I see you mentioned that this boat may have either a prop or jet? I imagine draft is irrelevant if you be running a prop. Jet, you'll need less than 6° at the transom which will eliminate some wessels. Hull shape may be a better spec to search

[pickardjw]

I may be mistaken but I see you mentioned that this boat may have either a prop or jet? I imagine draft is irrelevant if you be running a prop. Jet, you'll need less than 6° at the transom which will eliminate some wessels. Hull shape may be a better spec to search

Correct, the idea is to have both a jet/pump lower unit and prop lower unit for the outboard. There was a really clean 2004 North River Mariner for sale recently that included both...sold very fast.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1MX1PpsKn2/

Not worried about draft when using the prop. From what I've read, it helps to have the outboard on a jack plate as you may need to adjust motor height to allow the jet to run properly. Or buy a "bay kit". I'll have to look into transom angle. I presume that's angle of the center of the hull at the transom? (i.e. must be 6° or "flatter")?

Maybe the answer is to just learn more about inboard jets and consider that option.

Starting to learn more about hull angles. I see on Hewescraft the Sportsman is a 31x11x10 while the ProV is a 30x15x14. Alumaweld doesn't seem to provide the same type of measurements (Forward x Midship x Aft) to compare to the Stryker info above...Just lists the Sport at 14* and X at 18*, which may correlate to the Aft measurement.

[HntnFsh]

Some manufacturers do a delta pad bottom to run a jet. The boat we are waiting to look at has 14 degree V with a delta pad. I'm guessing it will draft 12- 14 inches just sitting.

[pickardjw]

Some manufacturers do a delta pad bottom to run a jet. The boat we are waiting to look at has 14 degree V with a delta pad. I'm guessing it will draft 12- 14 inches just sitting.

I saw mention of that hull feature on a Stryker. Seems like they update designs fairly frequently, so it's something I'll add to my checklist to look for when I'm looking at used models.

12"-14" static draft sounds about right. Hewescraft is the only manufacturer that has gotten back to me with any decent info. They had data of a 2018 ProV 200 drafting 12"-14" at the keel.

[James]

Wooldridge sells some boats to do what you are looking for, like the Sport. 

https://www.wooldridgeboats.com/models/sport/

Probably have to ask them about draft when fully loaded.

[pickardjw]

Wooldridge sells some boats to do what you are looking for, like the Sport. 

https://www.wooldridgeboats.com/models/sport/

Probably have to ask them about draft when fully loaded.

Yeah, few and far between in the used market unfortunately.

[Stein]

Hard to get a new Wooldridge too, at least it was back when I was shopping.  I couldn't even get a price quote from them much less an actual boat.

[HntnFsh]

And they are a great boat, but whooeee are they expensive. New or used!

[spin05]

https://www.wooldridgeboats.com/preowned/2004-wooldridge-20-sport/

[pickardjw]

https://www.wooldridgeboats.com/preowned/2004-wooldridge-20-sport/

Interesting, no walk through windshield. But it's got the right kinda power on the back! They should be listing those on Craigslist, FB Marketplace or Boat Trader...though my filter is set for $35k max so wouldn't have seen it anyway haha

[James]

Hard to get a new Wooldridge too, at least it was back when I was shopping.  I couldn't even get a price quote from them much less an actual boat.

Last I talked to them the timeline for getting a jet boat built was pretty quick and the salt water boats timelines have come down too.  The pilot houses has something like a 3 year wait during COVID...