V20 Pilot House??

jasoncooperpcola

jasoncooperpcola

God
Another crazy idea of mine......
Has anyone considered building a pilot house on their V20? The main drawbacks are weight, aerodynamics, and it would be hot during the summer. But with a pilothouse you can fish your V year round in the colder months. I was thinking either a rollup clear curtain or removable windows for ventilation. It would have to be constructed of light composite core materials. Putting a good angle on all three axis of the windshield would help with aerodymanics. Not to mention you gain mounting for rod holders, antenna, etc on the roof. Maybe even a ling tower, i dont mean full on tower i mean the fish spotting thing right on top the roof. (i cant remember the name for it) crows nest? Anyways what do yall think about it? I think the V20 has the lines for it. I was thinking an open back design.
 
I actually at one point thought about doing a pilothouse on my v. I was gonna keep the forward deck you see on my boat pull the pilot house back from the bow just enough to make it a walk around style. She would look pretty Sharp!!!!
 
Those are some sharp looking boats. Another issue with a pilot house is getting to the anchor pulpit. Krackers design would be ideal. But i was thinking building it right off the top of the gunnels.
 
Incorporating it into the gunnels would give you more space inside and shed most of the water overboard. IIRC -Hawaii seems to have their share of pilothouse boats. I love them for their function and their looks.
The Everglades boats I have seen lately have a lot of stylish glass around the T-top making for a nice enclosure, most all I have seen are powder coated and flawless.img_4e664ddc25458_9.jpg

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This was a huge topic of discusion on THT. They talked about different designs and weight forward and the difference between a doghouse design and a pilot house design. They make some really cool bolt on DIY molds and structures but they are super expensive to purchase.
 
I think weight forward due to a pilot house would help on a V20. After i build my bracket i will do some testing on water. I have two thirtyish gallon livwells that whe filled equal almost 500lbs. I figure moving them around will give me an idea of any porpoising issues. I will already be stern weighted due to a 30" bracket. Ridge i have seen several of the pilot house Everglades here. I like the looks. Would plexi work for a windshield? I am thinking of a wrap around windshield with no pillars except for a piece of aluminum tubing at the front corners for visibility.
 
Plexi works but eventually gets scratched and tore up in my experience. I wonder how they use glass for their t-tops anyway? I see they are attached at the corners with rubber fasteners but still I would suspect the glass would be a safety hazard. They are very sweet looking and while they are not a pilot house they are somewhat of a hybrid and me likey.. They have that all figured out and more... Pricey!:zip:
 
Four pieces of marine ply and it's done - three walls and roof !

Cut hole for window and bolt / caulk a piece of plexi.
 
What kind of speed loss can i expect with a pilot house? With a 45 degree windscreen that is curved. I still have to get in the boat to figure out how tall it will be.
 
You could do a " simulation "....................

1. Mount a front section that would represent the front facing wall of the pilot house.
( wind blocker, drag )
2. Add weight on board to represent the total estimated additonal pilot house weight.

Run the boat with these items on board, and check your speed.
I bet this would be reasonably accurate.
 
That would work BGreene. Definately get some weird looks. I just thought of something else. What about the guys with full bimini enclosures? That is the same as a pilot house. So what speed loss do the boats with bimini enclosures encounter?
 
jasoncooperpcola said:
That would work BGreene. Definately get some weird looks. I just thought of something else. What about the guys with full bimini enclosures? That is the same as a pilot house. So what speed loss do the boats with bimini enclosures encounter?
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Bimini - not much weight so mostly wind block related drag...........I'd guess 2-3 mph off the top speed from the front panel.

If you want speed, forget the pilot house and rip out everything not needed to float the boat. Seats, windshield, bow rail, everthing..........then over power the boat with a Mercury 250hp Optimax on a jack plate with high performance prop. Should see 60 mph.

This boat would then be about as easy to re sell as a V CC with a pilot house !!!
 
Not really worried about top speed. I am worried about the loss of speed and fuel efficiency. Right now I have a 94 2.5L Mercury 200 that I haven't even run on the boat yet. I hope after a 30" bracket and maybe a jackplate, I can hit the high 40s. Anything is better than 28mph full throttle from the 150 Johnson that came on the boat.

Been thinking about a hybrid pilot house/hardtop design, where I can swap windshields for a half windshield or a full windshield. We have a company down here that specializes in boat windshields and I have emailed the owner and he wants to look at the boat to see what is possible and whats not.
 
Loss of speed is one thing but the loss of manueverability with a stiff breeze at slow speeds could cause some embarrassment at some point.

I agree with Bgreene with a small stipulation, I think it is fairly well proven it don't take a stripped down version to see 60 mph with a 250, LOL. T-top, 40 gal livewell/leaning post, 94 qt igloo full of ice and beverage, dual batteries, stereo with 4-8" Pioneers that sound great, fresh and raw-water washdown, dual bilge pumps etc. Stripped down and no top I would think would be good for another 5 mph:-)
VV VV VV VVROOM!
V V V
 
Here in the NE we have some nasty water a lot of the time. The Sea Ox goes about 35 WOT with a 200 HDPI, its a heavy boat. That said I almost never go over 25 it is a nice comfy ride and enjoyable!
I have guys here with Seacrafts that stay in the upper 20's also maybe low30's but that's it, unless they want to take a beaten or get wet.
I loved my V20 here for 9 years but it was time to go!! That thing could bang with the best of them! A bunch of times I could just do 15 mph and wasn't a comfy 15 either! They are great Bay boats and give a great ride on flat days, but get a 1 foot chop you know it!
CB had a center console and it was better then the cuddy, it was a great boat and I went to a bunch of places I should never have done, and always made it home! But I am so glad to have moved on.
 
macojoe said:
Here in the NE we have some nasty water a lot of the time. The Sea Ox goes about 35 WOT with a 200 HDPI, its a heavy boat. That said I almost never go over 25 it is a nice comfy ride and enjoyable!
I have guys here with Seacrafts that stay in the upper 20's also maybe low30's but that's it, unless they want to take a beaten or get wet.
I loved my V20 here for 9 years but it was time to go!! That thing could bang with the best of them! A bunch of times I could just do 15 mph and wasn't a comfy 15 either! They are great Bay boats and give a great ride on flat days, but get a 1 foot chop you know it!
CB had a center console and it was better then the cuddy, it was a great boat and I went to a bunch of places I should never have done, and always made it home! But I am so glad to have moved on.
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Hey eyeball, I mean Macojo - did you have tabs on your V20 ?
I agree with you 100% regarding the ride, BUT - after I installed the tabs the ride characteristic is MUCH better.....no more pounding in small waves when the cutting edge of the bow is brought down just a little.
 
I have had my V over thirty miles out in the Gulf. Both on good days and when good days turned bad. Dad taught me that in rough seas take your time and Dont beat the boat. No tabs on my V. Usually when it gets too rough to run fast, we would drop some lines back and troll in. I am liking the pilot house for winter trolling for wahoo and tuna. The V is a very capable boat for its size. I chose the V20 over a 250 Sportsman knowing i would be doing a lot of bluewater fishing.
 
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