Go get em' Craig! Looks amazing!

It's great to see another first-class conversion! Any chance you can get those guys to weigh your rig before they send it out the door? I'm really curious as to what your weight will be w/ 400s vs the 318s w/ 400s that have been built so far that weighed 5,600 and 5,400. I haven't heard a weight on the last 318 that hit the water - the white one that Performance Boat Center rigged. Anyway, it looks great, and congrats on the re-power. :ernaehrung004:

How do you like the swim step? I'm doing a bunch of little upgrades to our new to us 308 and strongly considering a swim step like yours.
Your boat is going to be amazing, congrats.

Are those STR brackets?

Dale
I think Craig weighed his boat with the two strokes. You could probably back out what was removed and add the weight back in.
When I figured it out it was only an additional 300lbs total. I think his boat was around 4700lbs.
So probably right around 5000.
Craig?
Brackets are STR

Craig
Boat looking great. Looking forward to seeing in a few weeks. I am sure Jim will approve of the color scheme for the floor!
Guess I will be the only two stroke 308 left soon!

I hope to keep my 2 strokes for a long time. Saw 100.1mph yesterday with my wife, low fuel, 52 degrees air temp, and probably a little helping current.

Looking good Craig!

HI!

The STR brackets. Would it be possible for you to post their website and contact info?

Thanks!

Cheeers, Toffen

I'm going to weight the boat when I get it home...I have certified scales at my business so it'll be real world number with all my crap on board. Should be lighter than the 318 weights you posed I hope!! Yes those are Shauns jack plates, You'll have to contact him directly...he's on OSO. The swim step is great!! We have used it quite a bit. Have to see how the new tie bar sits when its in the water now though. Access was ok with the XS's to go under but if it's much farther back then it might not work so good.

Try here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/shauntor...=page_internal

so dale...what's your goal weight??? other than lite as can be, no frills, just seats and a steering wheel LOL. :lolhit:

Possible LOTO material Dale since you are pulling all the weight out of it and it might not be liking offshore anymore?

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Looks fantastic, congrats!!

Probably not as light as yours Craig! My bare boat is not as light as yours, that's why I am doing everything I can to keep the weight down with lightweight interior and rigging. Flat-deck Skaters are never as light as a standard hull-and-deck Skater due to all the material necessary to fare in the deck and hull. The windshields also add weight. Plus, mine being the first one, it is not as light as the ones built after it. So, long story short, even with just seats and a steering wheel in it, I'm hoping we can be down close to the 5,000# mark. Sounds like you're probably already there, or below that weight. Be careful with your rig at high speed, being that light with that large step at the transom is going to make your boat very light in the front with those heavy motors hanging off the transom (of course you probably already know that). You also don't have a 90" wide windshield creating downforce on the deck like the 318s do, which will make your 308 lighter in the front at high speed as well. I saw that you went to only 3.5" of setback, which is good, but I would hope you also moved your batteries up under the bow when you did the re-rig to counter the weight of the 400s. You see they blow over the X-Cats left and right - and those boats have a minimum weight of 5,400#s when they pull out, so they're no lighter than your rig. Good luck with your new setup, and keep us posted with how it's dialing-in for you!

Oh no, it will still be liking offshore! I plan on using the large fuel capacity as ballast - I will fill the tanks when I plan on running in big water. Trust me, 1,200#s of fuel on board will make a huge difference in how the boat runs in the big water after the conversion to outboards. Especially in my 30, as my rear bulkhead (which is the rear/start of the fuel tanks) is 9" further forward than the 318s Pete is building specifically for outboards. It may hurt my top speed a little when I have full tanks, but will help me in the rough. When the tanks are low on fuel, it will have minimal effect on top speed. As for LOTO, my boat will never make it back there - it's just way too far of a haul for me.

Looks nice with the 400s on there......and your swim step is still above the water!

Looks great Craig. Are yall in town ?

Balance will be changing as fuel burns off with no way to adjust though. Luckily these 400s won't burn through it like the mills you had previously.
When will this rig be completed? You can just tow it over from Douglas to LOTO in August for an outboard showdown.

Sorry...no more hijack LRR. You have one of the best looking Skaters by the way. :ernaehrung004:

thanks for the compliments guys. looking forward to running the boat in warm weather very soon!!
Mike we're not down there yet.... won't be leaving the La. swamps till after Christmas.

How'd it run?

I think he is grinning all the way home!

boat ran excellent!!!!...wouldn't have been able to enjoy the new power without someone loaning me their props though.:party-smiley-004: the added HP is nice!

Boat looked great Craig. Looks really but really clean with the interior. :ernaehrung004:

thanks Mike...nice finally running into you :poopoo::lolhit:

What are Skater Brothers for!

LITERALLY :lolhit:...On a serious note it was great to hang out. I totally understand why Sam likes yall so much. Looking forward to the next one.

going to be a great, great year guys!!!!!

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That is a great shot!

That shot says we are going to have some fun this year. :bananalove:
Mr Boden is one of the best at his craft too.

yes Pete takes some great pictures.... I have a big aluminum backed picture over the mantel the wife gave me for Christmas...very sharp image, great quality and super nice!!!!

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Can't really see the quality here but it's top notch for those of you who haven't seen one

That is "March" on the calendar and the quality of the photo is obvious. ........... "Nice pic" ...... "Nice boat"

I sure hope we get to hear how you like it with the 400s versus the 300s. Awesome boat, congrats

love the extra hp and added performance that it gives the hull...still have some dialing in to do but so far with the limited running with the set up I have to say I'm very satisfied!!! its at the shop where the interior was done (https://www.facebook.com/totalmarine...mance/?fref=ts) having the sea dec flooring put in. then I plan on weighing it to see what I gained overall, from there i'll start on set up.

Glad to hear things are going well and you are happy. I'm doing a few small things to our 308 this winter and can't wait for it to warm up a little. Congrats on your awesome ride.

LA, your pm's are full, fyi