# Why did pathfinder stop making there tunnel hull boats?



## Austin98 (Jan 19, 2017)

And is there any chance that they would ever start making them again?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Likely because they all fell apart with bad stringer issues.


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## Limp Shrimp (Aug 23, 2015)

They still make a HPX tunnel...


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## fjmaverick (Sep 18, 2015)

On a larger scale Maverick Hewes and Pathfinder were competing with each other. Now the brands have much clearer identities.

Maverick is a poling skiff
Hewes are flats boats
Pathfinder is a bay boat
Cobia is an offshore boat (they do make a bay boat still)


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

paint it black said:


> Likely because they all fell apart with bad stringer issues.


X 2 on that


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## Barbs_deep (Jul 4, 2010)

Probably because it is a terrible hull design


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

Being a TX guy I always thought I needed a tunnel since we have endless miles of sub 1' flats. Well, I am fishing a non-tunnel and don't miss it. There are pros and cons - it helps you run in shallower water, but that comes with a price. You can run shallower than the boat drafts, which can get you into trouble. A tunnel also drafts more water than a non-tunnel when at rest. Simple displacement math - there is less surface area at the stern.

The guys who run the scooter, Majek style boats need them because of that hull design. But on skiffs, I don't think they are necessary. I'd rather draft less than run skinnier.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

coconutgroves said:


> Being a TX guy I always thought I needed a tunnel since we have endless miles of sub 1' flats. Well, I am fishing a non-tunnel and don't miss it. There are pros and cons - it helps you run in shallower water, but that comes with a price. You can run shallower than the boat drafts, which can get you into trouble. A tunnel also drafts more water than a non-tunnel. Simple displacement math - there is less surface area at the stern.
> 
> The guys who run the scooter, Majek style boats need them because of that hull design. But on skiffs, I don't think they are necessary. I'd rather draft less than run skinnier.


Not arguing, just having a discussion...I don't know how you get some places without a tunnel. I know it's the age old Ford vs. Chevy, Tunnel vs. Non-Tunnel. I don't understand how a small tunnel effects draft enough to even be noticeable and I have done the math. I see how the wide, deep and long tunnels would add maybe an inch but a small tunnel is 1/4-1/2" more draft at most. 
Some of the back lakes and huge flats we fish in Texas, especially south Texas (Lower Laguna Madre) have no water deeper than a foot at most. Who wants to pole a mile in and out to fish? I don't know of any non tunnels that can jump up in 8-10" without dredging the bottom like crazy but I have heard people claim they can. I was looking at a Yellowfin 17 before the Maverick and he told me it would get up from sitting on bottom. I called BS because the lowest motor setting on the JP had the skeg 6" below the hull. I know a guy that was trying to sell my buddy an East Cape without a tunnel claiming it would run in 4-5" and they took them to a back lake that we fish frequently in his HPX-T and told the guy to follow him and at the entrance the EC hit bottom and was stuck like chuck. You can run 8 miles down the ICW and get to a winding channel that feeds in the flat but once you get in you still have to be able to run in 4-5" for about 100 yards before you can shut down in a foot of water. One day on the way out of my favorite back lake in my other aluminum skiff the tide dropped and I hit 2-3" (too late) and could not shut down so I powered over a 70-80 yard sand flat no problem. Any non tunnel would have been in a bind right away. 
I would like to get on one of these non tunnels and see what I'm missing.


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

@Smackdaddy53 - you make good points, it all depends on the water being fished. For example, you don't need a tunnel out of NOLA. All of those back creeks and lakes here in TX? I'd rather have a Glade Skiff specifically for that.

A know a few guides that either went to non-tunnels or said their next boat would not be a tunnel. They guide TX waters.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

I used to worry about running shallow,
not so much any more...


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## fjmaverick (Sep 18, 2015)

Brett said:


> I used to worry about running shallow,
> not so much any more...


That thing got a hemi?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Limp Shrimp said:


> They still make a HPX tunnel...


As far as I know, they stopped making that a few years ago.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

paint it black said:


> As far as I know, they stopped making that a few years ago.


2016 was the last year Maverick made the HPX-T. CFM in Maitland probably has the last one available.

http://centralfloridamarine.com/inventory/


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## Austin98 (Jan 19, 2017)

fjmaverick said:


> On a larger scale Maverick Hewes and Pathfinder were competing with each other. Now the brands have much clearer identities.
> 
> Maverick is a poling skiff
> Hewes are flats boats
> ...


 Makes since thanks


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

I fish an area that is notoriously shallow and have most people scared to run back into it. It is numerous square miles of skinny water and if you get stuck, you may not see another boat.

I was back there one day and a guide friend of mine was going to be fishing with a friend. I didn't see his boat, but saw another boat where he likes to go and saw it stop for lunch. I ran by and it was my friend fishing out of a Maverick HPX-V. I was blown away on how shallow they were fishing and could have sworn it was the tunnel. It also had a 90 on it. Granted, he knows the area and could navigate it with his eyes closed. I was impressed. And that is a great tarpon boat as well.


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## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

coconutgroves said:


> A tunnel also drafts more water than a non-tunnel when at rest. Simple displacement math - there is less surface area at the stern.


Maybe different with each manufacturer?

I asked Chris Morejohn about my Hells Bay and he replied: _*"It does work well, it only loses about 18 lbs of displacement so there is no loss in draft".*
_
18 lbs is about the same weight as a heavily packed tackle bag.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Austin98 said:


> And is there any chance that they would ever start making them again?


My $0.02: another reason is the economy. Why produce a bout for low profit when people are buying 50, 60, 70 thousand dollar boats. When the economy get ugly, I would suspect they will pull out the mold, dust it off and start making them again.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

The boats definitely have a flawed design as many had stringer issues mine was an 05 tailfisher and my stringers came loose within the first year I had the boat which was brand new. Nothing like paying top dollar for a skiff that starts falling apart after the first year.


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

Net 30 said:


> Maybe different with each manufacturer?
> 
> I asked Chris Morejohn about my Hells Bay and he replied: _*"It does work well, it only loses about 18 lbs of displacement so there is no loss in draft".*
> _
> 18 lbs is about the same weight as a heavily packed tackle bag.


Interesting - that's the guy that would know. I would expect there would be a difference in draft on a non-sponson boat. With sponsons, I would not expect any difference. But only one way to find out and that's to measure it, which I am sure the builders have done.


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