So feed your addiction and grab your gear, push your pedal to the metal and scream out to your favorite flat's fishing grounds - going FLAT CHAT!

Hang on and get ready to unleash your angling potential, the Flat Chat 18 is ready to take you from zero to fishing in seconds flat and ready to take your fishing 'to the MAX". Designed for rivers/ lakes/ estuary and coastal fishing, the Flat Chat 18 is designed for getting you to your favorite fishing spot ...FAST.

Commonly known as a "flats" style boat, the term "Flat Chat" is also Australian slang for "Full throttle" ... a fitting name for the design. With her huge casting decks fore and aft, 15 in wide side decks, she boasts a ton of space to cast and maneuver. No doubt, this also means massive amounts of storage areas and fishing features... to please even the most demanding anglers. Utilizing our unique "Liquid Engineering and Design System", whether it be coastal or inland fishing, the Flat Chat 18 is designed to deliver optimum performance on and off the plane. (See also the Flat Chat 16) 

"Built to take charge and leave everything else in its wake"

Tournament level performance at an incredible value - welcome to the Flat Chat 18! Built on an 18' ft plywood composite frame and touting the advanced feel of a feature-packed high performance predator, the Flat Chat 18 is designed to excel in a wide range of open and inland angling. While the wide open floor plan is ideal for coastal anglers, it has an equally strong layout for inland reservoir and river anglers, delivering the ultimate shallow water experience.

Packed with features that are limited by only your imagination, this performance design is geared to deliver the maximum experience, yet easy on the budget without spending everything you have. With her open floor plan, the Flat Chat 18 's wide 2.3m (91") beam gives way to an extremely solid fishing platform. Highlighted by large front and rear decks, 15" (381mm) wide side casting decks, the transom spans the width of the boat delivering even more deck space to work the big fish. Designed to be equipped with a full complement of must-have features, these can include rod hangers, rocket-launcher style rod tubes mounted at the console, a baitwell/ livewell, a fish box, built-in anchor storage and a wealth of integrated and storage compartments on the front and rear decks  to help keep gear secure and dry. The helm also offers the space for a full array of gauges and rocker switches as well as generous space for modern, large-screen electronics.

Construction

Built from marine or boatbuilding plywood and completely fibreglassed in an epoxy matrix both inside and outside, the Flat Chat 18 was designed for very easy building: no compound curves, no unnecessary complications, ease of construction, easy maintenance and a long life.

The 1/4" (6mm) panels, cut flat from our expanded plates dimensioned drawings, are bent around the frames and fastened to the transom and bow with stitches then taped and glassed.

The plans show all dimensions needed for each method: accurate expanded plates dimensions and all bulkheads and transom dimensions with spacing for building on strongbacks if desired.

With no lofting, beveling or scarfing required, the sides and bottom panels are cut from standard 8x4 plywood (1.2m x2.4m) and joined with a simple fiberglass butt block. All seams are then taped with fiberglass and epoxy (see our "Boatbuilding Forum " section for details.) As these epoxy joins are much stronger than the plywood, the assembled hull is then completely fibreglassed for extra strength and easy maintenance, resulting in a boat with less maintenance and a better finish than a production fiberglass hull.

Required Skills:

The Flat Chat 18 , like all our stitch and glue boats are easy to build. No woodworking skills or special tools are required. The plans include all dimensions and patterns to cut all the hull parts flat on the shop floor.

Materials

The following list of materials is approximate and intended for calculation of approximate costs. We offer no guarantees of accuracy. The list is for all timber in the construction of hull, deck and interior, including building stocks, temporary bracing etc. Allowance has been made in the quantities for about 10% wastage. These figures allow for building with 1/4 in (6mm) Marine Ply for the hull and 3/8 in (9mm) and 1/2" (12mm) plywood for the bulkheads, deck, joinery and cockpit sole. Resin & glass quantities are only approx.

GABOON /OKOUME MARINE PLYWOOD
6mm (1/4") - 8 sheets
9mm (3/8") - 10 sheets
12mm (1/2") - 3 sheets
 
RESIN & GLASS (for coatings and reinforced areas)
FGI (R-180, H-180) Epoxy resin & Hardener - 48kg
400g/sq.m Biaxial fabric - 50 sq.m 
4 kg glue powder (Cabosil-FGI)
5 kg Q-Cells (fairing powder)