Fatbill

Asking for a friend. What's the fastest boat you can plane with a 3.5 two stroke Tohatsu?

Off the bat I'm thinking maybe the Porte Bote. I think he may want something a little more rigid and simpler though.

Qualifications are:

Can't be made in China
Has to be simple
Has to be able to plane at 2/3 throttle with 1 person
Can't be chincy

Let me know your thoughts!

rocksandblues

SEATOAD

Maybe a small inflatable 7-10ft dingy? Some of them can be downright quick with low horsepower. The little SOLO skiffs are pretty cool too.

Gary999

Here you go.


https://www.soloskiff.com

fireisland1

Vitalsigns

Solo Skiff
Gary beat me by 2 minutes!!!

Gary999

And you can tow it with a Prius or a Rav 4!

plug tackle

My brother and I had a 12' sears jon boat, 3.5 hp Chrysler air cooled.
With one of us aboard, and sitting in the center it would plane at WOT.
Of course that was over 40 years, and 100 lbs. ago!
The smile on our faces was priceless.

listingfast

Got a 2.5 yami on my 18' canoe and I get 12mph. Squareback would plane nicely I bet..

hjorgan

I have a 40 year old 14 ft jon boat with a 3.5 merc. Planes out if I balance the weight and runs at the speed of smell. Not about the speed. But we do catch a few catfish.

Whaler27

MrWesson

9.4' watertender with 3.5 tohatsu = 8-9mph so not my dinghy.

tunnles

Boost the hp to 6 and then you talking planning !!
I used to make a small 7 foot clinker fiber glass dinghy and my son used to race around the shallows in it and it planed no problem !,
Funny there was never ever petrol in the mower !
He even learned to old art of syphoning petrol out of the cars and mixing his own oil !

KVKV

Inflatable boats! 7~9 ft.

TTaxi

Yeah , Baby!! I built a "MiniMax" hydroplane from Popular Mechanics plans back in jr-high wood shop. That was fun. It would fly even with a 3hp Evinrude. Wish I still had it. There were 4 glassed-in water-tight flotation compartments.
( 4 hr build in 8 minutes)

https://www.google.com/search?q=minimax+hydroplane+plans&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS 736US736&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=U990oCjVgqW MDM%253A%252CVqubLTUpVzSumM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kQzzJOyAbWZI6sPoQdJ1HVB-78LZA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjh2PjpouLfAhWJZd8KHVLPA1AQ9Q EwD3oECAQQDA&cshid=1547090972988001#imgrc=U990oCjV gqWMDM:
Mine was red with white stripe.

Highly recommended easy project guaranteed to put a grin on your face.

thataway

I have a 9'6" air floor inflatable which weighs about 60#--I weight about 180 lbs--I use a 3.5 hp Merc 2 stroke as one of the dinghy motors---it goes about 8 knots top speed--not really planing however. You need very light weight--and well developed bottom surfaces to plane with that HP--and at that you are running the outboard WOT all of the time.... Not practical.

Matt Gent

PF-88

4 hours in the garage and you can have another one, is their any kind of racing class for this boat? that would be bang for the buck most fun you could have with your pants on.

jobowker

Unfortunately, no. Inflatables in that range generally won't plane with a 3.5. The bottom has a little too much give.
Even going to a 3.5hp 2 stroke, with a replacement lower pitch prop, overinflating the tubes, and using some pvc pipe to hold the tiller so you can fit in the very bow, wind and small waves going in a favorable direction, you still only have a 50/50 shot at getting it to plane.

barrell

The solo skiff. It was designed from the ground up by Tom Mitslaff to plane on 3.5 hp. I was involved in getting the new polyethelene models made. Tom will no longer make them out of Glass. When on plane it rides on the back third of the hull. You can see the sunlight shining under the front two/thirds. It gets 16mph and will plane through 6 to 8 inches of water. Fuel milage is insane.