XP8 by Fred McDearmid, Crawfordville, FL
4 June 2007
Here are some pics of my XP8. It was finished in July 06. The boat was fully glassed with this bullet proof mesh on the bottom. The corners were glassed with mat... I wanted it strong. I never planed for such a big motor, it sort of happened. A friend gave me a 25hp Merc and I wandered, would it work??? It did. That motor didn't last long. BOOM!! So I got this 28hp Johnson on it now. I had to add a planing-board type box to the back of the boat. This works well. It keeps the front down and ads to flotation. The motor is kind of heavy for such a small boat. With a 12" pitch prop I have reached 34.3 mph using my GPS. I must say, 28hp for an XP8 is extreme and I don't recommend it for a novice boater. I'm getting ready to build a Class CD race boat. I'm bringing my XP8 to the Gathering; reservations are made. See you there...
Fred McDearmid
Crawfordville, FL
