# Claymont gets a Jack Plate



## jimbarn1961 (Aug 2, 2009)

First off, thanks Gramps for the good deal on the jplate and borrowing me your GPS to tune it in after install   
Well got the tiny tach last week and finnally persuaded the boys to take a day off from fishing to install our new jplate and TTach.  Went pretty smoothly and only took about half a day from start to in the water for fine tuning.  Before avg speed 20mph two people cav plate 2" below bottom of boat.   After avg speed 25mph  cav plate plus 3/4" above bottom.  same two people same place and conditions.  WOW what an improvement!!  Boat bites like crazy and feels like its on rails.  Boat turns so tight you can almost take water on the inside of the boat.  So heres the b4 after pix.







 
























http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss53/jimbarn1961/Claymont%20Jackplate/Claymontjackplate001-1.jpg[/IMG]









Now the details. it is 2002 20hp Merc 2 smoke spinning a Ballistic 3 blade stainless prop 10 1/8" X 13P.  setback is 6", Trimmed up and tilted out 3rd hole one person 5300RPM 2 people 5050RPM Factory WOT is 4500 to 5500.  It is still peeing good right now where it is at and is not blowing out But I have one inch more of travel to raise jplate which I am considering doing what do you all think?  Too high at 1.75?  AND YES It is bolted!!!! ;D


Thanks for a great forum and all help and suggestions.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Nice thing about jackplates, they can be adjusted a small amount at a time.
Bump it up an 1/8, go for a test ride.
If all is good, bump it up another 1/8
repeat until it blows out on the turn or starts to lose water pressure.
Then back down 1/8 and you're done.


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## HighSide25 (May 15, 2007)

x2

but the more you jack it up, the less you can tilt it out and still catch...

5300 is dang near perfect if max rpm is 5500. if you jack it up a little more you will hit 5500, but the prop may not catch the water as well and you could actually loose speed.

seems like gramps is getting rid of all his goodies...
i wonder what he has up his sleeves ???


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## [email protected] (Jul 2, 2009)

Great to hear such good gains with our jack plate!


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## kanaka1000 (Nov 26, 2009)

OK, when you took the photo of the cav plate being 2" below the bottom of the boat, were you in the 3rd hole?  When I set up the motor, it was 1/4" below the bottom in the 3rd hole.  And if you were wondering why there is the rise in the middle of the transom, the original motor was a 79 Merc w a longshaft.  That's why the replacement motor is a longshaft.
What's the speed w 1 person in the boat?  I was always hoping (seat of the pants   ) that it was in the high 20's.
Does the rear deck still unhinge?
This is what she looked like the morning we parted ways...


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## jimbarn1961 (Aug 2, 2009)

Kanaka,

To answer your questions the initial measurements B4 JPlate were taken with the pin in the 2nd tilt up hole thus the reason possibly lower measurement.  With me the 300lb out of boat and just my 135lb. 14year old it showed 27mph on GPS. 25mph with both of us.  Also the rear deck still works like the day it was built and is my preference for fishing from as the boat squats to much with me working the front deck. 
The skeg was quite worn from years of bottom bouncing and had some holes in it from something that may have been mounted on skeg at one time.  So I had stripped off the lower unit had everything welded up on the skeg to like new cleaned up scuffed and prepped for fresh coat of Quicksilver Phantom Black to seal everything up from the Saltwater elements.  Looks like NEW again .  I even stripped and prepped and sprayed the Bobs TRU Tracker to match rest of Merc. It does not stick out like a sore thumb now and looks like it came that way from the factory.
Officially the Claymont is DONE!  Lets get some decent weather to fish now.  Kanaka, thanks for the well thought out layout and beautiful glasswork.  It has held up awsome and the boat is a pleasure to fish from.


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## kanaka1000 (Nov 26, 2009)

FPFF, if you look at the pic, you can see the Hydro Fin skeg attachment that I had. That's where the 3 holes came from.
The 'Mont looks good and I'm really impressed with the speeds you're getting!! [smiley=1-beer-german.gif] 
BTW, if you haven't found out yet, there's only a layer or two of mat covering the foam "liner". Be careful of how you mount stuff there. And if you decide to remove the Keel Shield (Guard?) you'll probably will be cussing me out. It was starting to peel off so I used 5200 to stick it back on...


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## D_Crail (Jul 18, 2009)

Hey guys,I've got this same boat and just purhased a nice suzuki 15 hp 20" 2 stroke for $100 for her,NO,it's not HOT someone needed some money!!!!So how do you think my boat will do with the 15,think it will plane and if so what kind of speed should I expect...Tanaka,I would love to know more about these boats if you have more info????


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## rkmurphy (Nov 2, 2008)

> Hey guys,I've got this same boat and just purhased a nice suzuki 15 hp 20" 2 stroke for $100 for her,NO,it's not HOT someone needed some money!!!!So how do you think my boat will do with the 15,think it will plane and if so what kind of speed should I expect...Tanaka,I would love to know more about these boats if you have more info????


Put some trim tabs on her and keep her light. I'm sure she'll plane...with the right prop, of course. I would expect high teens (18-19 mph).

See if you can bump the 15 up to a 20 with some carb work. Just check the parts diagrams.


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## D_Crail (Jul 18, 2009)

Hey,I could live with high teens,going to tune her up and pull the prop to see what I'm working with.Also thought about a jackplate as my transom is exactly as the one above and think that the motor will need to be raised some!!!BTW,the boats only 14'4",do I really need trim tabs????Thanks for the input,I'm fairly new to yalls forum and love it so far,found all kinds of sites for aluminum boats but this is the best as far as small glass boats!!!!!!


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## jimbarn1961 (Aug 2, 2009)

GA Skiff,

I do not think you will have a problem getting it to plane with the 15 Suzuki. A bobs jack plate really woke my boat up and I could not be any happier with it. mid to upper 20's depending on one or two people. So I do not think upper teens out of realms of possibility with a good running properly hung and propped Suzuki. I am no authority on trim tabs but I do not think u will need them and beleive they may even scrub some speed off. Correct me if I am wrong someone??? By the way I use a Bobs tru tracker similer to a Del fin, whale tail etc, seems to do a good job in my opinion. Just my 2cents.


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## kanaka1000 (Nov 26, 2009)

Ga Skiff, that sure looks like a Claymont!!  Best of my knowledge, in this area (panhandle FL) majority of these skiffs were knockoffs of a Kennedy Craft.  Great little river boats.  The builder of the Claymont told me he couldn't improve on the hull design except to make it wider (60" vs 48").  
As for the "add trim tabs and keep it light" that seems to be a oxymoron.  Yer still adding weight.  These skiffs are so light, all you have to do is shift your rear end while running and the boat will respond.  Unfortunately, the longer you own a boat, the heavier it gets. :'( 
Weight distribution is the key to having a boat running at its optimum speed.  Move stuff around till it stops porpoising at WFO on a calm day, take it from there. I even added a couple washers under the engine mount to gain 1/2 a hole on the trim pin! 
That 15 will have no problem moving that hull.  The SS prop was one of the best investments I made on that skiff.


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## kanaka1000 (Nov 26, 2009)

BTW, that Suzi is a long shaft, yes???  If so, you will definitely need a jack plate, don't think your transom is tall enough to line up the cav plate w the bottom of the hull.....when they redid the transom for me to accommodate the long shaft, they cut out the transom and redid it to add the extra height, just didn't add a top cap.


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## jimbarn1961 (Aug 2, 2009)

Kanaka,

Thanks for all the kind remarks, tips and history of the claymonts. It is greatly appreciated. 

GA Skiff, like Kanaka says if that suzuk is a long shaft you will need to raise it up, probably need a jack plate. My opinion would be less expensive then transom buildup and much more adjustable.


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## choppercity47 (Jul 30, 2007)

Set it back to the most setback position (6" I think) and you can jack it up higher if its not already, I have the same plate and it's like night and day from the standard 3" or so it comes at. 

EDIT: nevermind I see you already got it set back all the way!


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## D_Crail (Jul 18, 2009)

Kanaka,It is defenatly a Claymont,had the decals on it originally but took hem off,also checked the VIN on the transom,although I think it had a little different interior setup than you originally had,mine has two pedestal type seat bases glassed into the bottom of the boat.I really like the casting deck on the front of your previously owned,and now fort pierce's Claymont and want to do mine the same way in the future!!! I am currently looking for a jack plate because this is a long shaft motor and knew I would have to do something to get it up on the transom,but for the price,I couldn't pass it up!!!!!A little history on my boat,I purchased it from an older gentleman up on lake sydney lanier here in georgia that said his son and daughter in law were building them down in Destin,Fla.He got too old to use it anymore and had it for sale!!!I thought it had nice lines and seemed fairly light so I bought her and start my research on the company but found very little....Thanks for all the help from all the forum members and any other suggestions are welcome


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## kanaka1000 (Nov 26, 2009)

Yep, that's one of them.  3 different models that I saw.  Pedestal seat, bench seat and one that had front and rear decks. Did see a side console build that someone hung a 40 on, always wondered how it sat in the water.  
Started the builds in Shalimar, moved to Destin, never found out where Clay actually moved to there. Pretty cool that you met his dad.....


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## D_Crail (Jul 18, 2009)

So Kanaka,I think you said that 5 were made before the company went under,and we know where 2 of them are,got any idea where the other 3 are????? :-?


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## stalkintail (Jan 20, 2009)

I think this is one as well. I emailed and recieved a bunch of photos. Looks like a claymont to me from the photos.

http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/col/boa/1488258592.html


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## kanaka1000 (Nov 26, 2009)

Hummmm... remember, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.


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## D_Crail (Jul 18, 2009)

> Hummmm... remember, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.


I agree,Just doesn't look the same,but I could be wrong!!!


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## jimbarn1961 (Aug 2, 2009)

Just my 2cents but that motor looks HUGE hanging off the back.  A 25 four stroke seems awful big and heavy for that skiff


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## Pole_benda (Nov 25, 2009)

Flats fisher/Kanaka,

Man the ol boat is looking NICE! Kanaka handed her off to me in great condition and I did my best to maintain until I got my current ride. anyways I had her clocked on GPS when I had her at 28mph/one person and when my buddy Adam and I were in it was 23-25mph. She picked up 3mph after taking off the hydrofin.


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