“ This is a testimonial both to my stupidity and to the ability of your boat to fly well. My wife and I were fishing in Aransass Bay back in a shallow estuary (flats) this weekend. There is a narrow channel that weaves it's way for about 100 yards through and around a shell reef that opens into the bay. On each side of the channel it is about a foot deep. We get out by getting the boat on plane in the narrow channel and then blowing out of the estuary over the flats at full speed. We were catching redfish after the sun went down and decided to stay until well after dark. We got up on plane with the moon illuminating the reef and blew out over the flats. Much to my chagrin, the moon only illuminated part of the reef and I realized we were going to hit it at about 30mph. I throttled back, sat down and what happened next is still hard to describe. We hit the reef, became airborne, flew over the reef and landed in the water on the other side with the motor still running. My wife and I looked at each other and said something like Holy ____! We had good water pressure in the motor and our flashlight revealed no damage to the boat or motor. Then we crossed Aransass Bay and went home. A good check of the boat and motor the next day revealed only some small scrapes in the gel coat, but no other damage. The reef was about two feet high and about 30 feet wide, so we estimated we flew more than 40 feet in the air with a suprisingly soft landing. Your boat flies well but next time we will pole out in the dark. ”

J. Killingsworth


"I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with my 17' Flats Cat. My last couple of boat were of the more conventional mono-hull tunnel and flat bottom tunnel designs. These two hulls are very popular with the extreme flats enthusiasts down here in South Texas. So, I was very skeptical when considering a cat-hull. Well, now I am a believer. The 17' Cat I recently purchased from you performs unbelievably well. It is definately the dryest 17' flats boat I have ever riden in. Even in 2' chop and beam seas, this boat is smooth and dry. Shallow water performance is awesome as well. I have ran my 17' Cat in true 6" and less water and water pressure stays more than adequate to keep the motor cool. This boat stays on plane at 2800 RPM. Hole-shot is extremely strong. I have gotten up in a true 12" (hard sand) very easily. Probably could get up in less with a soft bottom. I rigged my 17' Flats Cat with a Bombardier/Johnson 90 HP 2-stroke. This 4-cylinder has an awesome hole-shot. The 15 pitch custom 4-blade prop you provided works perfect with this setup. Top speed (2 persons, full gear, full fuel) at 5500 RPM is 41 MPH (per GPS). I love how this boat performs!"

Brett
Corpus Christi, Texas


“To anyone interested in shallow boats: I’ve owned my Flats Cat for three years now, run a 135 Mercury with the 14x18 Predator prop. Some boat makers “say” their rig will run in shallow water? The flats will run in 2” easily for miles, I’ve run over 10 miles at a time in water that ranged from 2 to 6 inches and never felt bottom nor has my motor showed any signs of heating up or loosing water pump pressure. I’ve crossed many bays throughout the Texas Gulf Coast in all kinds of weather and the Flats Cat take the chop & keeps you dry as well as most v-hull boats. It is truly amazing because I’ve been in many v-hulls that will soak the riders in 1 foot swells, also it is the most stable boat while drifting. I’ve been in it with three 200 lb men, can walk from side to side at anytime without the boat dipping, I’m clumsy so I really appreciate its stability and smooth ride. It’s ability to jump out of the shallow water is super (no pushing out to deep water.) My boat jumps up loaded (3-4 persons, gear, fish, and ice) in calf deep (±10-12 inches) water, and is on plane in seconds. I fished steady 4 days a week for 18 months last year everyday in the Flats Cat so I can tell you it does “everything” Bill Allison claims it does.”

Scott
Cypress, Texas


"Well indeed the Flats Cat is unsinkable!! We had an Extremely high tide and high winds last weekend. Sunday night my Flats Cat was tied up at the dock. One of the front lines broke in the wind and allowed the bow of the boat to go under the dock. Well we had an unusually high tide and high onshore winds which pushed the tide 2 feet above the dock. Since the bow was under the dock the stern went up with the tide but the bow did not! The boat filled with water to the gunnels and the water went through the fittings into both hulls!!!! I came out on Monday morning and saw the boat under the dock full of water!! The tide was down below the dock now. I got a friend and we stood on the bow so I could get it out from under the dock. Just roughed up the rub rail, no real damage. I pumped out the boat and cranked it up. It stood up like a V-hull and I knew the water had filled the hull. I pulled it out on the trailer and pulled the drain plugs and it drained for 20 minutes on the ramp. Totally full of water it was. Put the plugs back in and it is fine and dandy now. So it has been proven...the Flats Cat will not sink. Love that Flats Cat."

Anthony
Bonita Springs, Florida