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Old 12-14-2013, 06:26 AM   #38
Mabru team
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City: South Florida
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 6
Huckins yachts

Quote:
Originally Posted by manyboats View Post
rjtrane wrote,

"features of the Huckins is the V-drive that keeps the 6-71s out back, under the cockpit"

I'm not a fan of V drives.
One of the nicest things about inboards is the great balance achieved by the weight concentrated amidships. The Huckins as a light boat w her engines aft is probably a good formula for a hard ride.
E
I've always admired these boats w their long straight lines and no nonsense flair but I had no idea they had aft mounted engines. Heavy engines w the added weight of the V drives too.
Wavy
Were some Huckins built w midship mounted straight drive engines?
Deep V was my best choice, cruising to the Bahamas on a 31 Bertram head seas was in my opinion the very best, then the Trojan 10 meter with a delta conic hull came out, what a ride!!, soft, fast and DRY, we still own that 1982 boat, 30 kt full speed, or 24 kt cruising 1 MPG with cummins 6bta 370 HP.
I also purchased a deep V Luhrs 40 open with T 500 HP yanmar, removed the heavy tower, the engine hatch, cockpit and cabin floors and made new ones in Nida core, new special furniture, a fwd ballast tank to help during bad seas.. We did 38kt!!! But my wife refused to come back with us to the Bahamas... Then A customer came to us with a Huckins 65 cold molded, was to me the most elegant classic boat, practical engine room, easy to service, mid engines with straight shafts, no V drives, T 650 HP v12 d25 man, FLAT bottom!!! I was working also for Bertram yachts fabricating all their 67 hulls and decks, installing on all of them the air conditioning and accessories, we had to sea trial them often, the ride was incredible but the fuel consumption was very high.
The 65 Huckins hull #406sea trial at 18kt was showing almost 1 MPG.. The ride was very very nice, so nice that after 35 years dealing with yachts and mega yachts and 9 years waiting for the right Huckins few weeks ago I made the move. "Huckins is contagious"
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