skiff design

[dinghy1]

I am in the process of a 12', 6 hp, skiff design. I have scale modeled 2 with the only variation being a 'flat bottom' aft section on one and a 4" 'V bottom' on the other. The fore-section is v'ed on both.

I was thinking that the flat bottom would push more easily with a small OB and plain better with only a driver in the rear of the boat...

Is this true?

Is it worth trading off the seakindliness of the V bottom?

Thanks for any help on understanding the dynamics of this design.

[Lewisboats]

You gotta get past the "hump" either way, and the V bottom will get you there just a little quicker because you will be pushing the water sideways as well as frontways. You will also get better performance in the turns and not risk "tripping" which is a problem with flat bottoms and hard chines. You say 4" but how wide is the beam at the chine? 4" over 3' is pretty deep, but 4" over 4.5' is significantly shallower. Take a look at the Vee on Fisher10 (http://www.angelfire.com/ego/lewisboatworks/html/fishbuildnav_a.htm) , it is only about 3 1/4" deep, with a width of about 46" at the chine. It is flat enough to plane quickly, while still softening the pounding. A shallow Vee will give a smoother ride than a flat bottom every time. The down side is that it will draw more water than a flat bottom, and will be more work to build. I will be better able to tell you how it performs monday evening, as I am taking it out fishing with my son. This will be the first test with other than an elec. trolling motor. I will be using a 4 horse and, if I can get it running, a 10 horse on it.

Steve