Hello,and please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Patrick and im located in good ole' polk county, and i love to run kissimee. I come from the world of full sized airboats, and have experience in building anything from my first boat which was a 220 GPU(ran dry,engine blew 2 mths later due to oil line blew), my father in laws boat rebuild was an 0470 true a/c(runs dry), a full sized 12 ft. vw powered boat(didnt run dry of course), a bbc cadillac 425(runs dry,gearbox boat) ,customer boat (an 0480 lycoming,12ft alum w/poly) and my latest FAILED build(sbc350,12ft. alum,sank within minutes due to improper weight distribution)

Anywayz, i figured id try my hand at a mini due to my latest failure,heres what ive gathered for my rig, and i will try to post pics of the start of my work and layout tomorrow.

Engine : Rotax 503 Dual Carb,air cooled,2 stroke,CDI,100hrs since rebuild,2.68/1 BELT reduction unit,lowers engine raises prop height in hull. Rated for 65 HP

Prop : 5 Blade 60" Warp Drive w/ large lxl bolt pattern(machining hub adaptor on reduction unit so that the plates will bolt up)

Hull : Fiberglass,was told it was built for racing?VERY light,6.5ft wide@rear,narrows to between 4-5 ft at nose,11.5ft long,about 1.5 ft sides&transom

Bottom : VIRGIN,was going to go with porters frog spit slick unless ne1 knows sum1 who make it cheaper than 80$ gallon...

Rudders : Lightweight Fiberglass racing rudders 30" high, triple rudder system(3 rudders)

Seat stand: Square tubing,rear driver front rider,weighs about 15 lbs total

Fuel tank: 18 gallon aluminum

Still haven't started on engine stand and prop cage yet as i have alot of cosmetic&structural work to do on the hull,is in progress.

The questions I have before i begin, or get too far in over my head without advice from the guys who know minis...first and foremost:

1.I'm building a rear deck,the engine will of course be bolted to the deck, using pressure treated furring strip for the inner frame and support, the deck its self is osb 1/2 in. as used in many decks,seems very strong,have used it before. i'm almost finished building the deck, seems with everything i've weighed its added almost 20 lbs, might be at 23 or so when i put the front side of the deck in,all i've currently done is the topside and main frame.the deck is angled slightly so that if water comes over the transom, it will run back off of the rear and rear sides of the boat.I hope that so far i have described this to be easily understandable.Ive not seen many other minis with a rear deck,and was wondering if it was really necessary to put it in, and will it provide me with the extra protection i want to keep water from coming into the rear of my hull and possibly sinking me or is this 20 lb deck too heavy?Is just this weight alone enough to keep this boat from running dry?Ive been told that these minis are very weight picky, not sure about my engine specifically,but ive been told its one of the best in power-weight ratio.

2.Ive seen some youtube videos,including bils mini,kicka$$ boat running dry, if bil reads this,please tell me, does your boat run dry with 2 people,and how much does it weigh?anyone,what is my weight limit to be able to run dry with this engine?Is my 5 blade 60" warp drive a decent prop for my rig? Do I have ANY chance of running dry?

3.My layout looks like this,does it seem pretty even in weight distribution?

The seat stand has no legs that connect to stringers, it bolts to the top of the front and rear deck and floats over the floor of the hull, very low,to keep the center of gravity low and stable.


Rudders Engine DRVR RIDER This line beginning of front deck
V -R V-E V-D V-R V-FD
|----------------------------------- \
R ___| RD | ------ | \
| |_____:_F__:_____ | \
___| |----| | [ D ] [ R ] | )
| |-E--| |_[___]_____[___]_| FD )
___| | : : | /
| | ------ | /
|----------------------------------- /
/\ -RD /\-F
Line is end of my deck Fuel tank is in center of boat
in front of driver behind rider,virtually centered in whole hull.