Just finished my Rhode Runner build. Thanks for the suggestions and help from Jeff Richards. Made some modifications and she runs great. Still thinking of a name
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Beatiful boat. Glad I could be of help. Above all else, I really love how the RR handles on the water. I’ve never driven any boat where I could be as confident in just cranking the steering wheel over into a hard turn - the boat neither skips to the outside of the turn or rolls to far in or buries the stern. Just finds that perfect groove. Somtimes I just go out a “play” driving in S turns and circles. Being a small, light boat, you do have to slow down if you hit some chop, but that is to be expected - so look for smooth water for special enjoyment. Looks like you’ve done a lot with a fancy, sporty steering wheel and lots of instruments. After all the hard work it is now time to enjoy some time on the water.
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I just noticed in the pics - is that a stern light or flag staff holder behind the stern seat back? BTW, I use my seat back as a makeshift table when I take my wife out for a picnic and we pull up on the beach in a secluded cove here or there…
Wow! Another beautiful Rhode Runner build. Major congratulations!
I’m also building one, and a couple of questions.
Appears to be a fuel fill on the aft port quarter, and a vent on the forward port deck? Fixed fuel tank?
Anyone added a bimini to a Rhode Runner? Any thoughs from the designer?
And a final one for now – How many Rhode Runners are out there?
Harvey,
Yes good eye. Against my better judgement I put in a permanent custom gas tank from RDS. Had to do some modifications to get it in and then get access to it if needed. Happy to show you all the photos if you are interested. Probably a better way to do it but works great.
did not add a bimini but could look nice - And help protect from the UV. Don’t know how many RR are out there but CLC should have a good idea.
Wow Harvey looks fantastic - love how you handled the seat mounts and rear cup holder and the paint job looks great !
Looks fantastic. I’m seriously thinking about starting on one of these for my next build but I’m concerned about being able to handle the weight. Looks like you finished the hull, paint and all then the deck and interior. Did you need much help handling it through the process?
Doug
I started the build right side up on cradles on horses. Once the build got higher, I cut the legs off the horses.
I went a little further than what the plans called for and glassed the interior, and installed the longitudinal stringers and inwales before the flip.
I also added some bracing that attached through the wiring holes at the top of the bulkheads to act as handles for the flip. I recruited 6 buddies (I had to buy breakfast) for the flip.
Hopefully this was the last time this boat will be upside-down!
The next flip (cost me lunch this time) was directly on the trailer.
This is my first boat build, and while I can say that I haven’t made any major mistakes, I would do it a little differently next time. Biggest items would to do more pre-finishing of the components, and thinner coats of epoxy. I ended up buying an additional 2 gallons.
As for the seating, I wanted to be able to swivel and slide the seats. Here’s a picture I took at the CLC showroom when I picked up the kit. It was a prototype that they called “social seating” so that you could face aft. They admitted that the results were less than stellar, and would not reccommend it. This was the Ryan & Sophie boat that had an Elco electric oputboard. Also note the different shape of the dashboard.
I used some standard ebay bases, and cut the post down to the same height as the factory base. Some of the leftover wood was used to copy the seatback braces and to add a wedge between the base and seat. I’m still working out the exact locations of the bases, but they will swivel 360* if the slide is adjusted.
Thanks for the detailed explanation and photos your boat is beautiful especially for your first build. Gives me a better perspective for what I might be getting myself into. Just guessing, how much do you think the hull only weighed?
