Description

The XF20 was designed in collaboration with one of our Phantom builders. Ken Owens, an experienced flats fisherman talked for years about a tunnel hull. He was persistent and we resisted: see our message board archives for some memorable arguments. Tunnel hulls have drawbacks but many fanatic flats fishermen are willing to accept them to reach those elusive shallow areas where the big redfish hide. Ken Owens approached us with an intriguing design idea: he had seen an interesting flats boat on Florida’s West Coast. This wide and light 20′ skiff, built by a fishing guide, captain Henderson, had a tunnel common to many flats boats and looked like an enlarged version of our GF16. The boat had a great reputation. Ken suggested to enlarge and widen our GF16 then install a tunnel aft. After seeing pictures of the Henderson skiff, I decided that we could do better in several areas: lighter, better built composite hull and better hull shape. An enlarged GF16 would be easier to pole and behave better at speed. It also looks better than some of the hasty copies of the Henderson skiff that began to appear locally. During our emails and drawings exchanges, we first called her the Cool Boat and what came out of our collaboration is really a cool boat. We kept the rod holder location and designed a poling platform like the one seen on the Henderson skiff. This new design is the best possible no-compromise extreme flats boat.

Click here to see study plans

Related Kits:

Sole Option

CNC Kit – MarinEpoxy Kit – SilverTip Epoxy Kit

No Sole Option

CNC Kit – MarinEpoxy Kit – SilverTip Epoxy Kit

Gallery