Sounds like a good plan. I'd considered it for my Vagabond too, not so much for performance, but I have a fair amount of rocker to remove, and I was thinking that the lighter construction of my '54 could use some structural stiffening in that area. Thanks, I'll go back to watching attentively now.

I have discussed this with Joe on and off for about two years.
I had considered it for my Vagabond and for this boat.
He suggested going for about 3' strakes on this boat and cutting the keel all the way to where the strakes start.
This hull only has a 24" X 24" flat surface at the stern before it starts to round up on the sides and turn up towards the bow.
I am going to run it like it is first and then decide.

There was an article a while back in the AOMCI mag, maybe by Joe McCauley, where he suggested that the flow could be improved over the aft section of Feather Craft hulls by adding strakes outboard and parallel to the keel. His thinking was that this would tame the lateral flow and thus reduce drag. Interesting idea. Ever considered such a thing?

This last photo wouldn't fit in the last post, this matches what Feather Craft did on the later Rockets and Vagabonds.

Finally got the bottom pushed and hammered into where it should have been, not perfect but better than I thought I would get it and much, much better than it was.



It would have been impossible without removing the transom braces, the holes for the vertical side of the braces were nearly a full bolt hole off after straightening the bottom.



Braces riveted back in place.




The keel on this Rocket went to the very end of the bottom as you can see in the first photo, the keel on my 56 Vagabond goes to the very end of the bottom but it is sloped like the cutback keels on the later boats. When you get to this point there’s no turning back.



This is a handy trick somebody taught me (don’t remember who but I remember the trick) slide a razor blade under whatever you’re trying to cut off the hull, then when you’re making the final cut you can see the sparks fly once you hit the steel blade.

I know its apples and oranges being a 16 footer but my clipper is 24 inches from transom to beginning of keel and the taper is a full 12 inches. This keel is different, being a D shaped extrusion with integral flanges, than my DR which looks like it is just pressed flat stock and closed at both ends. The rear end on the DR tapers down only about 4 inches from the transom and ends right at it.

I would think that less interference with the water running under the boat the better.  Especially if you want to run the engine high on the transom.
I measured our Rocket and found the keel actually ends one foot in front of the rear trailing edge of the bottom.  The taper starts one foot in front of that.  The bottom edge of the keel begins a shallow roll back up towards the bottom for about 6 inches then is a straight line to the end of the keel.  
I'd post a pix of it but the keel is nestled in a "centering" support channel that I added to the trailer to help support the bottom, keep the boat centered on the trailer while towing, and make loading the boat a pretty much drive-on deal.  I did the measuring with a flashlight and rigid measuring rule.
You are doing a great job!
Merky

So John,
Do you think the cutback keel will be worth the effort to do on the 56 Rocket that has the keel running completely to the stern end of the hull?
Look at your Rocket if you get the chance and let me know how far it ends from the trailing edge of the bottom.

boatcrazy wrote: Ray and I came up with a tool to make sanding the drums a lot more efficient
Now all I have to do is chuck the new tool in my drill and let the drill do the work it use to take over 10 hours to sand a drum now it takes 10 minutes thanks Ray
Charlie

EXCELLENT idea Charlie.

Ray, you are right about the benefits of wanting to reduce the disturbed water the prop is running in.  It can make a noticeable difference in how efficient the prop is.  Offsetting the turn fin on a hydroplane or racing runabout helps to reduce the air introduced into the water ahead of the propeller which is already running in a surface piercing environment.  Additionally it adds "mechanical advantage" to the fin's ability to hold the boat and reduce side slippage during cornering.  Having the turn fin offset to the left however makes trying to turn right really hairy if you think about it. I've thought about that a lot...........  The first thing I've always told a newbie going for a ride in one of my hydroplanes is; "plan ahead....do not make a right turn!"