boatbuildlog

Design

Phantom 18

Designed by Jacques Mertens

An 18 ft flats skiff by Jacques Mertens for Bateau, identical to the Phantom 16 apart from 2 ft of extra cockpit length. The stitch and glue plywood hull is fully fiberglassed in epoxy, weighs about 800 lb and floats in 6 in of water, with a 7 ft 5 in beam. The recommended engine is 70 hp on a 20 in shaft, and the flat deck makes the layout easy to customise.

The designer describes it as easy to build with no woodworking skills, scarfing or special tools. Published labor figures are 80 hours for the hull and deck structure and another 120 to 200 for fairing, paint and rigging, so plan on 200 to 300 hours. Real hours from logged builds are below.

What building a Phantom 18 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.

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Build logs
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Launched
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Median hours
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Median months

Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.

Builds of this boat

Nobody has logged a Phantom 18 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 boat

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Same type, closest in length.

Design Plans from LOA Logs
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Bay Pilot 18 Arch Davis Design 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0
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Flats Stalker 18 Bateau 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0
Houseboat 18 Bateau 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0
Jetabout 18 Bateau 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0