Building Raptor Hull #703 - Part 1

By Joel Rodgers #703 "Raptor" (4ar)

I wanted to build a boat that was smaller than 14' so I would not have to register it. Portable enough to cary in my pick-up truck, and easy to build. I liked the San Francisco Pelican 12', but seemed a little complicated. My Father had built one back in the 70's when I was about 10yrs old, and we loved it.

One day I stumbled onto the PDRacer website and found the boat I wanted to build. For the sail & rigging I wanted to copy the Pelican.

I wanted my hull to be 16" tall and to have side airboxes, so we ripped some 1/4" luann to 16" and clamped them together and cut them to shape & sanded them.

Next we ripped 3/4" wide strips from a preasure treated 2x6x8 and screwed them to the sides.

Next we installed the bow & stern and added supports between the airbox walls top & bottom.

We made the mast step by routing out the step into a piece of treated 2x6 and added some strips on top of that to make the step about 2" deep. Then we glued & screwed on the 3/8" plywood bottom.

We drilled out a hole in the bottom of the step so any water could drain out.

Using another piece of 2x6 we routed out the upper mast stay and added a support for the bow sprit. This maybe overkill, but I figured I would be standing on the deck at times and weight was really not an issue for me as this would be a cruiser & not a racer.

I added another piece of 2x6 on the stern/transend so I could mount a motor gas/trolling in the future. I also sealed all the corners with 3M marine grade adhesive sealant.

Finally I painted the inside of the airboxes and cockpit with truck-bed liner. I did this to seal the wood, give a texture to the cockpit floor, and make it durable.