Finished Simmons (almost)

[pmac]

...been building a 20' Simmons for the past 18 months and pulled it out the garage and took it in to get a motor installed this weekend.

I'm a very frequent forum lurker (and rare poster) and have gained a great deal of valuable info from all the folks on this forum - thanks.

Anyway, thought I'd post a pic of the boat. I'm going with a Yam 60HP 4-stroke. I should have it in the water in about 2 weeks.

again, thanks,

pmac

[Thorne]

Sweet! More photos, pleeeeze?

[pipefitter]

Wow. . . very nice!

[JimD]

Congrats! A beauty. Yes, more pics, please.

[Dave Carnell]

That is a beautiful job. We had our 2007 Simmons Expo here in Wilmington, NC. Hope to see you next year.
Check out <simmonsseaskiff.com>.

[Jim Ledger]

Very nice! Congratulations!

[Ron Paro]

Super job! Congratulations! More photos would be appreciated.

[Rick Starr]

Very nice indeed. Congratulations on a beautiful job. You'll grace the Rappahannock.

[Dave Carnell]

One forumite has suggested that you narrowed the boat. Did you make changes from the plans? Thanks.

[pipefitter]

One forumite has suggested that you narrowed the boat. Did you make changes from the plans? Thanks.

I also thought the boat had the look of a stretched 18. I thought I had read somewhere in the plans info that the original 20 was a stretched 18 and the wider version evolved from that. There used to be a picture on the web of what seemed to be the same type of boat with an old 40hp Johnson on it but a low side. I can't tell from the angle of the photo and thinking maybe the motorwell had been widened. At any rate,It seems to have the sheerline of the low sided 20. Whatever it is, it's a really nice rendition and sure looks great like that. That's my favorite view of the Simmons boats.

[rbgarr]

A local boat builder built one and found that it was extremely sensitive to weight distribution, especially in the stern (understandably). He was carrying a 20' 6x6 post out to an island and the boat wouldn't get up on a plane, but would once the beam was taken ashore. Interesting!

[pmac]

All, Thanks for all the compliments.

Dave, Sorry for the delayed response... been out of town.

Anyway, I did not change the plans. So if the boat is narrower than designed, I really screwed up. My guess is that it's a combination of the angle the photo was taken from and the fact that the motor well was widened slightly (good observation pipefitter).

Also, sorry I missed the festival a couple of weeks ago. That was actually one of my goals - to get things finished in time to bring the boat down. But everyone knows that timelines typically shift right...

Pipefitter, I do like your boat - and your comments on your website and this forum were/are extremely helpful.

Here's a link to a few photos of the building process. I'll post some addt'l finished photos in the future.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2089187873

tks,

[pipefitter]

Pmac, if you screwed something up,it is in the best of ways. The hook looks correct too from what I can see. I think you are going to be ultimately pleased with the performance. That is a tastefully done Simmons. Console is proportioned well too. I think you nailed it. Each of the Simmons originals had their own little differences as well from one to the next.
Thank you for the return compliments as well.

[pipefitter]

A local boat builder built one and found that it was extremely sensitive to weight distribution, especially in the stern (understandably). He was carrying a 20' 6x6 post out to an island and the boat wouldn't get up on a plane, but would once the beam was taken ashore. Interesting!

This is part myth to me. I was afraid of that when I built my 18 for hearing that. But to the contrary,I have found the boat to be tolerant of weight distribution. The only issue I have had so far is riding too light with too big an engine or when it nudges past 38mph and there is hardly any of the hull in the water. I thought it was slight cavitation but found it was the wind trying to lift the light hull. With 2 people it is perfect,hole shot is instant.

The only time I see or hear of weight distribution sensitivity(within reason) is in boats that have omitted the *hook* at the motor well or extremely heavy engines which is why I am always harping about following the plans.
Dave was pretty sharp about seeing it and questioning Simmons himself about it and I feel it was possibly one of the most important notes when taking the lines from the originals.