In 2000 we designed and came up with our first flats scooter boat with a tunnel. This boat was designed keeping wave fishermen who like to run shallow in ankle deep waters and back lakes, giving the best maneuvering capabilities. The Chiquita is a proven fishing platform, it is very stable, great shallow water performance, dry and the way it handles the chop is unbelievable. This model really took us to a whole different level in the shallow water running boat class. These boats were made with complete composite material with one of the highest quality materials available in North America. The most common compliment we received for this boat was ‘It’s a Fish Catching Machine’. Lot of the waters where kayakers fish, this boat took the anglers to those spots for fishing without getting grounded.
In late 2009, we started talking about a cat style boat. Again the basic concept was simplicity in manufacturing and maximum performance without breaking the bank. After doing several scale drawings, looking at rendered views and studying performance charts we decided on a design. It was to be a modified true compression inverted V style catamaran hull. This design limits the amount of air that enters the tunnel, gives lift to the total hull and generates floatation as the hull sinks into the water. By production start time several female boat molds had been produced for one off projects with great results. A female mold was the method of choice. Mr. Lemke created several design variations of the basic design and after studying performance charts, flotation charts, and running production costs we picked a design. Once the computer work was finished and the cutting began we had a fiberglass hull ready to test in 14 days with fairing time going from weeks to days.
In late 2011, there were few Cat boats out in the 21-23ft range. We had a lot of inquiries from avid anglers that they are looking for something shallow running and mainly dry ride which they weren’t achieving from other manufacturers. They also informed that they wished Patriot 18 Cat to be longer as they get the best shallow and driest ride in chop. This got us thinking as we are not just here to serve our gulf coast anglers but we are here to delight them with our product. After intense research we came up with one of a kind design which rides shallow and the sponsons were designed in such a way that the anglers will get the smoothest, shallowest and driest ride on choppy waters. Mr. Lemke designed the model on the computer and with his top of the line CNC machine, cut the panels and put together a wooden female plug. After weeks of fairing we popped our first demo boat. Tested the boat with a 225hp motor vigorously on the water with all kinds of conditions. Once we decided on the weight distribution and loads, we designed the deck cap mold. This was one of the best features where every Warrior customer appreciates the wide walk on gunnel from the deck cap. Freedom Boats with this design became revolutionary with the other boat builders.
In 2008 we would put all of our ideas. We had always loved the way the Flatlander 21 and 24 handled. The things we needed to address were a rough, wet ride and recouping the money spent on designing and tooling cost. It was decided to build a plug out of fiberglass so it could be used in testing, for building the mold and be sellable. So by adding more bow rake, two inches of V to the hull, and a wide chine to help soften and dry up the ride. a design was created. First we generated a scaled computer drawing, made the cut files which were then used to cut all the pieces for a male mold and then assembled the mold. After building a fiberglass hull from this mold we were still faced with weeks of dealing with overlays and unruly lines. During the fairing process we discussed the possibility of building a female mold. In the past, to build a boat shape with flowing lines using a female mold was impossible because one could not see the lines and shape. Using twenty first century technologies the shape is designed and visualized on the computer with all measurements generated on the computer. A computer controlled router with a variance of .003 of an inch in twenty feet to cut the pieces was used with the ability to arrange pieces on four by eight sheets to conserve material and eliminate human measuring or cutting mistakes. This produces no material overlaps and straighter lines in fairing, all of these items lead to production savings.
After launching our Warrior 23 Cat, we got great feedback from all our customers who ran this boat. Along with the positive feedback we always got an inquiry about when we are going to build a bigger boat. Since 2019, we started our research in building a 26ft Cat boat. Started designing the model on the computer and with COVID the plans were delayed until mid-2021. With Mr. Lemke’s computer skills and boat designing expertise we went through a lot of models and finally came up with one of a kind 26 ft Cat boat in its class. We commenced building the wooden boat plug with a computer aided CNC machine with a variance of .003 (1/256th) of an inch late 2021. All going well we will be launching this boat to the market this July / August 2022.
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