# adding lifting strakes



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

Has anybody added lifting strakes to a hull that didn't have them originally? I am strongly considering adding a lifting strake on the back 1/3 or so, just inside of the soft chine to get more bite in corners in the back and possibly another set of strakes another 10 or so inches in. Nothing crazy, maybe .5-.75 high and 2 or 2.5 wide.

Does the brain trust think this would be a good or bad idea? I am not sure about the inner set but I don't think I could go wrong with the outer set at the soft chine.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

Nobody wants to discuss this?


----------



## Gatorbig (Jan 15, 2021)

Have a buddy adding them to his classic whaler 15. 
What hull are you putting on?


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

An old 16' el pescador that I'm adding sponsons onto.


----------



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Did you have issues with the hull before? Other then maybe helping to control some spray I don't know if you will see an actual effect on that hull with that small of a strake.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

Main reasons for wanting to do them is to add bite in the back for cornering. I know that this hull design has been known to spin the back end out under the right conditions in a corner. While I shouldn't have a problem with the 40 thats on it now, I plan on putting a 60 or f70 on it down the road. Secondary would be to help with spray at the back of the boat and to help lift the hull a little more out of the water to allow for less wetted area.

At this point, it's just an idea in my head so the design and dimensions can all be changed. Part of the reason why I wanted to open a discussion about the topic. When looking at a friend's hewes redfisher tunnel, I see a lot of similarities between his and my hull design. One difference is, he has 4 lifting strakes along with 2 straight strakes at the edge of the tunnel. I also see just about every new skiff out there with them as well. I understand hull design changes as the years go by, I think Chris' designs have gained just about the most that can be gained in a skiff and he calls for them in his plans.

In the end, I'm just trying to get as much out of this hull as I can since I'm this deep into it now.


----------



## RJTaylor (Oct 4, 2017)

I don't think they'd hurt to add, but doubt they stop it from bow hooking, if the "right" situation came up.


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

funny, it seems lifting strakes are discussed in regards to pontoon boats.......a pad may be better for getting lift and strakes to stop blow out in turns


----------



## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

I added poling and lifting strakes


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

With as big of a keel that I have, I doubt I need any poling strakes. Lifting strakes on the other hand should be beneficial.


----------



## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

I think for turning etc. it might make sense to research a reverse lower chine on the bottom. Is that what you mean?


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

K3anderson said:


> I think for turning etc. it might make sense to research a reverse lower chine on the bottom. Is that what you mean?


I think that is what I mean.


----------



## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

ET101 said:


> I think that is what I mean.


I'm considering glueing some into that hull as well. I don't have the bite issue on turns, but, I'm interested in seeing if it creates a pad of water under the hull.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

What hull is that? I like that tunnel.


----------



## TommyBTexas (Aug 18, 2021)

ET101 said:


> An old 16' el pescador that I'm adding sponsons onto.


I ran one of these boats out of Port Mansfield TX in the early 2000s. A captain friend of mine rebuilt one from the hull up just like you. Ended up a beautiful boat powered by a 90hp. Once in the water, there were some apparent issues with the boat itself. The boat has stability issues while on plane. The back end has a tendency to lose. The nose of the boat rides up even with 15g of gas in the tank under the forward casting platform. We were able to solve both of these issues by moving weight forward and adding trim tabs. Once more of the keel runs in the water on plane the boat became very stable and dry! She won't run as shallow as you think she should FYI. Ended up putting a jack plate, whale tail and had the prop cupped to give more low end torque for hole shots in shallows. One of the best boats Ive ever fished and for sure the best skiff under 18' Wish I could find one to rebuild. I currently own a 1990 20' El Pescador witch I am currently doing major updating to. Good luck I would love to see how she turns out!


----------



## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

A lip on the back edge will lift the back and push the nose down. It doesn't take much to achieve this. Fraction of an inch.


----------



## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

ET101 said:


> I think that is what I mean.


yeah, lifting strakes are located on the front part of the boat to help "lift" the bow out of the water. Your hull has a soft chine (rounded) in the rear, you may want to look into working that a bit.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

So here is what I ended up mocking up and decided to do... hopefully it ends up doing what I want and I don't have to grind it all off when I'm done.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

TommyBTexas said:


> I ran one of these boats out of Port Mansfield TX in the early 2000s. A captain friend of mine rebuilt one from the hull up just like you. Ended up a beautiful boat powered by a 90hp. Once in the water, there were some apparent issues with the boat itself. The boat has stability issues while on plane. The back end has a tendency to lose. The nose of the boat rides up even with 15g of gas in the tank under the forward casting platform. We were able to solve both of these issues by moving weight forward and adding trim tabs. Once more of the keel runs in the water on plane the boat became very stable and dry! She won't run as shallow as you think she should FYI. Ended up putting a jack plate, whale tail and had the prop cupped to give more low end torque for hole shots in shallows. One of the best boats Ive ever fished and for sure the best skiff under 18' Wish I could find one to rebuild. I currently own a 1990 20' El Pescador witch I am currently doing major updating to. Good luck I would love to see how she turns out!


That is some great info about this hull, thank you for that! I have added 18x20 sponsons on the back to help lift the back at rest... still in the rebuild process but the test before teardown proved to be a great improvement. I have a build thread showing everything I've done to it so far. Hoping to have it flipped in the next week or so, so I can finish the topside.
89 16' El Pecador rebuild


----------



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

ET101 said:


> So here is what I ended up mocking up and decided to do... hopefully it ends up doing what I want and I don't have to grind it all off when I'm done.


So you decided to add a reverse chine instead of any strakes? I did them on my last build, they help keep spray down, but I think that's about it.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

firecat1981 said:


> So you decided to add a reverse chine instead of any strakes? I did them on my last build, they help keep spray down, but I think that's about it.


I inset the reverse chine a little from the original soft chine to create essentially a pocket chine like in Morejohns designs. I'll take a better picture when I get home in a few minutes.


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

Here's a better picture of how I did the chine area.


----------



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Why didn't you wait until you got the sponsons on?


----------



## ET101 (Sep 10, 2020)

The sponsons are on... they were molded into the transom instead if bolted on. That last picture doesn't look like it but it was taken looking down the side of one sponson.


----------

