The Latest

• Tweet

• Tweet

UPDATE: The corrected Torpedo Plans & Patterns are now available from Glen-L here!!!

The above photo and article below was taken from the WoodyBoater website.

Thanks to fellow Woody Boater Roberta Hegy for sending in this wonderful story of building a proof of build for Glen L and Roberta herself. Thanks again for sharing, take it away Roberta

The Torpedo is Glen L. Witt’s latest design done in his retirement from the company he founded. His daughter, Gayle, and her husband, John Brantuk, currently run the company. Glen L is noted for their classic style boats and have provided plans and kits for their designs for decades. Kits are limited these days, but the full line of their plans along with Ken Hankinson designs are available as well as fastening kits and building supplies.

The Torpedo was introduced into the lineup about 5 years ago. I immediately fell in love with the lines of the boat and knew I had to build it. Shortly after I purchased the plans, some minor issues with patterns popped up. Glen L offered a refund or another set of plans to customers who purchased the Torpedo plans and pulled the design from their lineup. I contacted Glen and Gayle and expressed my great interest in building the boat. With their help, I decided to build a “Proof of Concept” of the design and provide them with information about any changes to the design so plans and instructions could be revised and the design re-issued.

I did some re-lofting from the scale drawing and made minor changes to setpoints and pattern sizes. As I built the boat, I made allowances so I could make in-process changes to keep the lines fair. As built dimensions were sent to Gayle and Glen along with any changes necessary in the instructions. Once the framing was done, it was clear to me that the boat design could be revised and would go on to be a real looker as Glen intended. Glen and Gayle are currently working on the changes and it is hoped that the plans will be re-issued at a later date.

The boat is made from mahogany framing placed on white oak and Okoume plywood stringers. The hull is planked with Okoume plywood using the “cold molded” process of epoxied double diagonal strips of the Okoume. The hull bottom is 5 layers of 3mm and the sides are 3 layers of the Okoume plywood. The hull has been sealed with a layer of 7 oz. fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin and then painted with 5 coats of two part poly-urethane paint.

The decking is comprised of a 1/4″ Okoume plywood substrate and 3/8″ mahogany planking. This has been stained and coated with clear gloss ploy-urethane top coat. Caulking was done with 3m 4000 uv.

The boat is powered by a 330 hp Crusader Captain’s Choice 5.7 MPI V8 engine coupled to a Velvet Drive 8 deg. down angle Liberty “A” transmission. I am currently using an OJ 13X13 full cup four blade prop. The boat accelerates very quickly to speeds in excess of 50 mph and handles just great!!

One of the unique features of the boat is the very large engine hatch. Due to the limited access to items in the aft end of the boat, I decided to enlarge the hatch and use electric hatch lifts for access. This has worked out well and allows easy access to all items in the aft section of the boat.

The boat has already won a “Best of Show” and “Best Home Built” awards at local ACBS shows. It will be at the Glen L Gathering (9/18-19) at Hales Bar Marina in Tennessee and the ACBS International Show in Brainerd, MN in September 23-26.

The entire building of this boat is featured in the Glen L Boatbuilder Forum in the “Power Boats” section under the topic called “Roberta’s Torpedo”.

Roberta Hegy

UPDATE: The corrected Torpedo Plans & Patterns are now available from Glen-L here!!!