Try to build an aluminum 40' sportfishing

You might want to try Michael Peters Yacht design, use this link:
http://www.mpyd.net/.

They have designed many successful sportfish boats, incliding my 43' Egg Harbor.

Yes, as well as many Cabo hulls and I believe Rybovich. However, aluminum sportfish have really grown out of favor and are disliked by most of the sportfishing crowd. Striker was the major company that made aluminum sportfish. But Fiberglass (production boats) and then cold molded (Jim Smith, Paul Mann, Bayliss etc.) seem to be the two hull materials that everyone wants

You might consider expanding into a more related direction such as water taxis, ferries, crewboats, etc.

Maintanence, noise while fishing, nowadays there isn't a large weight savings over using fiberglass, long term maintanence.

You guys build some nice looking boats. Especially like that tour boat; very unusual. If he really wants to go SF might I suggest you go high end, especially since you'll be going Aluminum. It's really a bad time to enter the small yacht market with companies closing and cutting back all over.

Oh, a prototype. Cool. Dig into the Strikers. Their about your best example.

I would see if you can find and take a look at a Vicem sportfish in your area or a charles Jannice. They are both sold here in the US market and pretty well finished off. I'm not sure aluminum would be the material of choice for a sportfish. Either that or going to a boat show here in the US and taking a look at the usual sportfish Cabo, Viking, Hatteras, a few custom sportfish like Merritt, Jim Smith, Weaver, Bayliss, etc etc.........The biggest problem you're going to run into is the actual application of the sportfishing end of the boat. Understanding what you need in the way of live-wells, fish boxes, tackle storage, rod storage, bait freezers etc. and locations of them in the cockpit and rest of boat.

Have you thought about producing airboats or dive boats?

Yes, some yacht design companies can set you in the right direction as to where to place fishboxes and such. Keep in mind this also determines where you can place fuel tanks and such under the cockpit floor. I would take a solid look at the 40' Cabo express as it has a really good cockpit layout for everything in my opinion and is the size you're looking to build. Their website I believe shows the cockpit layout........It sounds like you're looking to build one just for the factory's own personal use.

Looks to me like you have the start of a nice hull to work with on that RB-01 Coast Guard boat. The bow has a nice flair to it.

I realize this post is over two years old and the original poster may well have moved on, but there are bits in there that still are/could be worth discussing.

- I realize the original poster's intention was to build a company prototype - but I get the definite impression that the market for sportfishers around the 40 foot mark is probably very saturated right now. The worldwide recession and low US dollar have made it more cost effective than ever before to bring in second hand US sportfishers. I read some comments in the Riveira thread (that the influx of good quality second hand US sportfishers was a major factor in Riveira going under) with interest. These boats, which are normally well built and have an established sportfishing pedigree, are going to be very serious competition for potential non-US sportfish builders, especially as demand for such vessels outside the US and maybe Australia is limited. It's been very interesting to find there is some demand for sportfishermen from the cruising crowd, but I'd guess most folks that purchase such vessels still do so with the intention of fishing for billfish and tuna. There is an odd paradox here, because sportfishing for billfish and tuna is carried out in a great number of places, including some very far flung locations indeed (such places often being the very best locations to fish for big game), yet billfish and tuna fishermen are a definite minority amongst owners or potential owners of boats in the 40-foot class (especially outside the United States and Australia). Very careful consideration therefore needs to be made before entering this small and quite competitive market.

- Aluminium sportfish are more widely accepted in non-US markets and maybe the West Coast USA (?) than the US East Coast.

- Capt J is right when he says "The biggest problem you're going to run into is the actual application of the sportfishing end of the boat. Understanding what you need in the way of live-wells, fish boxes, tackle storage, rod storage, bait freezers etc. and locations of them in the cockpit and rest of boat." There is a lot that can be added, including but not limited to: low-speed manoeuverability (backing up, spinning and turning), helmsman's view of the cockpit and bow, location of helm station and electronics displays, etc. Ease of maintenance is also essential when a boat is being fished hard. To really understand how all these things come together, you really need to see a good sportfishing boat doing the work it is designed for. Yes, it's a good idea to visit boat shows and take snapshots of leading US production and custom boats; but what will really help make a good sportfisherman - I mean not just a boat that has the exterior appearance of a Bertram or Viking but a boat that is truly fit for the purpose of sport fishing for billfish and tuna - would be to have your boss charter a week's fishing in Cairns Australia, or Kona Hawaii, with a good professional skipper on a good boat, observe everything that is done during the fishing process, and ask lots of questions about what is good and not so good about the vessel he is running and vessels he has operated previously (which should provide you with a notebook full of information).

- From what I gather, Taiwan wouldn't be a bad place to fish for billfish and tuna! I understand Taiwanese coastal fishermen take black marlin and other billfish by harpooning - a fishery report available on the internet shows that the coastal harpoon fishery took around 500 tons of billfish in 2009. I've found that Asian anglers are mainly interested in catching table fish, but sport fishing for amberjack, giant trevally and dogtooth tuna is becoming more popular. Trolling for billfish and tuna may be too expensive for most anglers (the same is true in most parts of the world, not just Asia) but it looks as though the fish are likely to be there for anyone willing to try.

Apologies for the long post above. I was looking at the photos of the boats JeffSheu posted, especially the Customs 2 boat and RB-01, as well as Jeff's last post on this thread, and found myself looking at the prominent spray deflectors that can be seen doing their job on both boats. I've seen similar examples on other boats but seldom from US builders, which seem to use smaller spray rails and place them lower down, and I wonder why this is.

Jeff: how long are the hulls in your original post?

45' Hargrave

2001 HARGRAVE Sportfish Power Boat For Sale - www.**************
I believe this is a one off design but on paper at least it looks very interesting.