Herley Elite 8 Captain

[inveratta]

Yeh ..what a great way to spend time.......all Im saying out of respect for Moose and the hard dollars he has put in...start another thread ..Im sure that you will get a lot of input ..I lived with semi displacement hulls...

[chocolatemoose]

woah. let me catch up

RE : Hull design
The hull design is a modified piercing plumb bow. a Kiwi design from a few years ago. to form it in Ally isnt simple "or hard" just. requires a crap tonne of force to get the thick plate to conform to the very sharp piercing lower part of the hull. These hulls ride higher on waves and peirce through the top part of them rather than up and down like a knife. there isnt as much need for big flares etc as their is less penetration into a wave vertically. the plumb bow aspect offers the displacement and boyancy to keep the wider front end up. the hull then tapers to a flatter aft with a keel. this is what gives the hull its directional stability, stability and efficiency. we dont make any pretense about it being an offshore racing hull, thats not what we are designing this for. there are more than enough builders in australia making Formular derived hulls for that.

RE: Engine.
Clients choice, we are brand/engine agnostic and happy to go with what ever power plant you prefer. This client however had some requests, they wanted exceptional range, they wanted only a single engine. and the COX diesel offered the torque required for this size boat, with the lean fuel burn. to get the power otherwise required would of meant we would need to go with a 350-450hp single hp . meaning Preimium 98 octane fuel. as this boat will live in a marina that only offers diesel and 91 octane, this would of been lagistically hard.
Going diesel also allowed us to build an intergal diesel tank as part of the hull. isntead of dropping in a plastic fuel tank. by having a plastic tank we would of had to go with a rather tetris looking shape in order to get it in and out of the saloon door way. where as with an intergal tank we were able to gain an additional 60lt of capacity. intergral tanks also aid in the overall strength of the hull, and reduces noise.

one thing im happy,excited about with our boats is the volume increase. im fortunate to fitout and work on a crazy large amount of boats. i seem to be getting a hell of a lot of barcrushers recently "just...shrug... coinsodence really" and its always felt funny to me how little room you get in a boat of a certain size. so out 8mt herley has more volume than a 9m compeditor. not good or bad. just different.

ive recently fallen in love again with game fishing after a few years away from the scene. big trailer boat game fishing down here in the S/E is getting huge. we are seeing a lot of people step down from 32-40ft flybridge sports fishing boats to big trailer boats" for all sorts of reasons" but the one thing i did love about the bigger boats was how comfy they were to be on when out on a shelf for hours and hours and hours. so we wanted to not only make sure there was plenty of fishing room. but just... room in general. good head hights everwhere. shoulder width. decent walk ways between seats so you "or larger friends" dont feel squished getting in and out of places. especially in our 9mt i wanted to ensure we had amenities that do give you comfort off shore. standing head hight bathroom. plenty of places for bags andstorage out of the way. lots of options of where to sit etc.

im super looking forward to the first boats getting out there, and then hearing peoples likes and dislikes to help refine them

Moose

[ranmar850]

we dont make any pretense about it being an offshore racing hull, thats not what we are designing this for. there are more than enough builders in australia making Formular derived hulls for that.

Good on you, this obsession with the good'ole Formula 233 gets wearying at times, great head-on hero's, not much chop for anything else. That bloke in Mallacoota putting them out, first Formula then Apache-based hulls makes a great go-fast boat--spearo's boats, I call them, very different to fishing/cruising requirements. Get out there fast and wet, have your fun, come home fast and wet. No shelter from the elements, roll around on the drift or anchor, some won't even have a seat because you can't see from a seated position due to a wave breaker, and you aren't going to be doing a long day.

I look forward to seeing post-launch reports. On the subject of amenities, once you get to a certain size, it certainly opens up a lot more possibilities. I'm just about finished making the Reefrunner a mini-cruiser/do it all boat, ordering a set of Plaztek drawers to go into the bulkhead in front of the passenger seat--when camping, they'll have all the cutlery,crockery, etc, when just fishing, they'll be full of pre-made rigs and leaders. Doing about 10 days out the Montebellos in May, can't wait.
Do you use Plaztek for any of your fitouts, Moose?

[chocolatemoose]

thanks mate! thats really encouranging to hear. its exciting to hear how your reefie is going. i have a mad soft spot for caribbeans " was at their factory yesterday funny enough"

Yes we work rather closely with plaztek. 6 years ago we started making our own inhouse HDPE stuff. its a lot of work and al ot of time on CAD. Plaztek asked me about my plastic supplier. and if i would want to buy raw material off them. and a few years later i just said, you make it. i havnt got the space or time anymore. so yes our 9mt boat has a custom plaztek flush mouned draw/cabinet system in the rear corner transom. and we fit a fair bit of plaztek off the shelf stuff to our builds here in melbourne. They are a great family making good gear. they just need to hurry up and find an australian plastic supplier

[chocolatemoose]

so shes out of paint and in the interior fit out stage before she will get sent to us here in australia for her engine and fitout

[Corry]

That is stunning. Looking a treat Moose

[ranmar850]

She certainly is eye-catching. Looking forward to seeing seatrials, with fuel burn per NM, etc. I don't know if I've missed something along the way, but is that the trailer it will be sitting on, or just a temporary solution? Looks like a lot of overhang at the rear.

[chocolatemoose]

no thats just a trailer that our guys in NZ at the yard use to move it between the different factories.
it will live in a seapen in Queensland, no trailer. "minus when i take it up the coast for a bit of a show and tell"

we should have it here in australia within a month, and then outfitted a few weeks later. still a little bit to go. but those along the east coast will get a chance to come see it in person

[Chimo]

Where will it live in Qld Moose?

[Lovey80]

Am I the only one that loves these forward raked “work boat” windscreens? I’ve never actually been in a boat that has them but would imagine it gives a lot more room around the helm area for mounting radios in pockets in the roof etc and make the cabin feel a lot more spacious. I imagine they’d work wonderfully on a cat also.

[ranmar850]

Forward-raked windscreens, while abhorrent to some for looks, are a wonderfully practical layout for warmer climates. Instead of the sun blazing through onto dash, cabin, and occupants, there is no direct sun at all, unless it is at a very low angle. makes a huge difference.

[GBC]

Our family who build boats overseas has been playing with similar hulls in fibreglass with varying degrees of success, the biggest success being at boat shows where they attract buyers like caravans with mud tyres at a camping show. Arvor 20's were a warped plane hull, small engine and extremely weight sensitive style of thing. Nothing much in common with these easily driven (assumption) full planing hulls. Just some feedback, carpenters/builders pay special attention to setting out and finishing toilets - because the new owner sits there and has nothing else to look at so they pick all the faults there - the welds around the helm.... maybe something to mention to the factory.

[chocolatemoose]

thansk for all the feedback everyone i do appriciate it

So yes the commercial forward raked is something ive had a bit of experience with our Jeanneau fleet for a while. they have a lot of advantages for sure but yes no beauty awards. lol. This boat still has its dash going in on top "may see the dash units we build in a previous thread about our standard shaped elite 8"

This boat will live in the gold coast, and they plan long range runs up to the islands. hense the big tanks and diesel outboard.