Design
Phantom 16
Designed by Jacques Mertens
A 16 ft flats skiff from Jacques Mertens and Bateau; it is used by professional fishing guides in Florida. The stitch and glue plywood hull is glassed inside and out, weighs about 750 lb, draws 6 in and is easy to pole. It carries a center console, a self-bailing cockpit, and an aft deck with bait well and fish box. The recommended outboard is 70 hp, and the page quotes 45 mph.
No woodworking skills or special tools are needed, and there are no scarfs or compound curves. The designer's figures are 80 hours for the basic hull and deck structure plus 120 to 200 hours for fairing, painting and rigging, so budget 200 to 300 hours. The medians below come from builders who logged this boat here.
What building a Phantom 16 actually takes
Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
Nobody has logged a Phantom 16 here yet.
If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.
Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Strike 16 | Bowdidge Marine Designs | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 1 |
| EdgeTracker 487 | Bowdidge Marine Designs | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |
| Flat Chat 16 | Bowdidge Marine Designs | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |
| Gulf Explorer 16 | Bowdidge Marine Designs | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |
| Houseboat 16 | Bateau | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |
| Inlet Runner 16 | Dudley Dix Yacht Design | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |