# 15' Fast Craft Re-Build



## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

Long time follower of the forum, but never made an account. My business, Gorges Boatworks, is located in Wilmington, NC and we specialize in complete re-builds of vessels, typically fishing boats in the 20-40ft range.

We picked up a couple boats in the end of 2019, an 18' C-Hawk and a 15' Fast Craft. I'll share the process as we finish the Fast Craft re-build. We gutted it, installed a Coosa stringer down the centerline, Divinycell H100 bulkheads, and filled the bilge area with 2lb foam.

The new deck is constructed of 3/4" CarbonCore Honeycomb with a layer of 2400 biaxial cloth on each side -- we are using polyester resin.

We added some gussets to the port side of the hull and will soon be gluing and glassing the deck into her!

The power will likely be a 40hp Mariner that came with her. We are looking forward to the end product!


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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

Screwed and glued! For this boat we used B39 bonding adhesive and were not shy with it. After it cures for 2-3 days we will remove all the weight, fill the gaps around the edges, and roll another layer of 2400 biaxial onto the deck and up the sides. At that time we will cut out a hole in the stern and glue/glass in the sump box for the bilge pump since I don't think this will be self bailing.


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## TripSmith (Sep 18, 2019)

Nice, keep the progress updates coming.


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2020)

This thing is gonna be a tank with all that biax!


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## GaG8tor (Jul 8, 2019)

Welcome Aboard. Nice work. Looking forward to the finished product.


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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

Boatbrains said:


> This thing is gonna be a tank with all that biax!


Misread the box, it's actually 28oz. So now we have a layer of 28 on the bottom, the top is tabbed in with 6" 1808 around the edges and then a layer of 2800 on the deck and up the sides.


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2020)

Mark Gorges said:


> Misread the box, it's actually 28oz. So now we have a layer of 28 on the bottom, the top is tabbed in with 6" 1808 around the edges and then a layer of 2800 on the deck and up the sides.


Holy Hell, that’s a lot of glass!


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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

Gotta be sturdy at 50mph in a 15ft boat!


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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)




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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

I'm having issues uploading new pictures - have cleared cache, any suggestions?


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Have you tried the orange "upload a file" button next to "post reply" button?


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## GaG8tor (Jul 8, 2019)

I’d like to see the old C-Hawk. Are they still in business? My buddy’s first charter boat ever was a 26 I believe. It’s still functioning as a crab boat 30 years later


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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

C-Hawk is back in business...still using wood. Ours will be re-built and featured soon! Going to be a pretty sweet rig.


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## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

Will you be using the original cap for the fast craft or building a new one?
I always thought the way it angles in is nice for a duck boat but it would be cool with a flat deck cap and as an added benefit would create a feel of more space inside the boat.


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## Mark Gorges (Jan 23, 2020)

We are using the cap as is. I will be making an insert that I can attach to the cap for fishing and remove for duck season. The flooring is a Seadek knockoff that is much more affordable...and apparently each sheet is difference, hence the lines being off. Could have done some trimming to make it less apparent but this is going to be a beater boat---I'm not worried about it too much.


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## GaG8tor (Jul 8, 2019)

Looking good. Carolina builders ain’t scared of wood.


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## Hfinney1834 (Jan 1, 2021)

I have a 15’ Fastcraft and it has a few soft spots in the floor. It’s not throughout just in one area. Is there a way to fix this without breaking the bank? Due my budget I’m hoping this is something I can do without gutting the boat.


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