Floating flexibility

Fish are found in all depths - from just a few inches to hundreds of feet. The Avenger 24 is designed to be successful whether or not you can see the bottom.

[Times photo: Scott Keeler] Fishing guide Rodney Ristau, left, and Jerry Scott, owner of Marauder Marine, cruise in an Avenger 24, which is adept in calm or rough waters.

TARPON SPRINGS - White flecks of foam dancing across the sand bar signaled that the wind was increasing in strength.

"It doesn't matter," said Rodney Ristau, a 37-year-old fishing guide from New Port Richey. "This boat can do pretty much anything."

"If the redfish are hot, we stay inside," he said. "If the kings are running, we go outside."

In the competitive charter boat business, it pays to be flexible. So when it came time for a new boat, Ristau wanted a craft with dual capabilities.

"It would be great to have two boats," he said. "But not many people, especially fishing guides, can afford to have both an inshore and an offshore boat."

So Ristau talked to his friend Jerry Scott, who had been building boats on and off for more than 30 years.

"I wanted to design a boat from the keel up," he said. "I wanted to build something that was wide, stable and could carry four people comfortably. But I still wanted it to be fuel efficient and fast on the top end."

The result is the Avenger 24 by Marauder Marine.

The 23-foot, 7-inch center console is best described as a "hybrid" boat.

"I take mine up on the flats and 50 miles offshore," Ristau said. "I go to where the fish are."

With a 46-degree entry at the bow and a 23-inch freeboard, the Avenger 24 can handle rough water. The motor (rated for 250 horsepower) is set on a scissor jack 21 inches off a solid transom, which also makes for a quiet and stable ride.

Scott, who built his first boat when he was 11 years old in his father's garage, said he thought long and hard about the Avenger's design before he built the prototype.

"A lot of boat builders take an old hull, a design that may be 30 years old, put a new deck on it, then slap their name on the side and call it a new boat," Scott said.

"But technology and materials have come a long way. I knew if I was going to build something that really worked, I would have to design it from the keel up. I have found that it is a good way to build a boat, but not a great way to make money."

The challenge, Scott said, was to settle on a design that would serve the needs of his customers, most of whom were professional fishing guides.

"There is a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to boat advertising," Ristau said. "A manufacturer may say that their boat can float in 8 inches of water, but that is only if you take the motor off and empty the hull.

"The problem is that if you are a fishing guide, you need a motor, you need fuel and most of all, you need paying customers. What is advertised and what is reality are often two different things."

Scott said his boat, fully loaded, floats in 14 inches of water. "It runs in less," he said. "If you want to go any shallower than that, buy a flats boat."

The ventilated stepped hull makes for an easier ride in rough water and allows the boat to get up on a plane quicker.

The solid transom is a big plus offshore, especially in a following sea or when backing down on a fish. But the scissor jack still gives the engine 17 inches of play, which is a huge asset when running on the flats.

"We have built a 24-foot boat that you can take offshore, yet it will still run anywhere that a 17-foot flats boat will," he said.

The Avenger 24 has no wood stringers; everything is hand-laid glass. There is also a platform built right into the floor to accommodate a tower, which has become a standard piece of equipment for many West Coast anglers.

Scott designed the Avenger to be a no-frills, open-cockpit boat for the professional fisherman. "Most of my customers are fishing guides," he said. "That is why everything is pretty simple."

The first Avenger 24 hit the water in 1999. Since then, Scott has been building about 10 a year.

"We don't rush these boats," he said. "If somebody is in a hurry, I won't even take the order. They are better off buying something off an assembly line."

But Scott has found there are plenty of people willing to wait for a custom boat whose base price starts at about $40,000. The Avengers have turned out to be particularly popular in the professional ranks, especially with those who navigated the fickle waters of Boca Grande Pass.

"It is a niche market," said Scott, who admits it is a struggle making ends meet in the dog-eat-dog world of custom boat building. "But I think if you build a quality product, people will want it."

Avenger 24

BUILDER: Marauder Marine.

Length: 23 feet, 7 inches.

Beam: 8 feet, 3 inches.

Draft: 12 inches.

Power: 250 horsepower.

Fuel Capacity: 82 gallons.

Freeboard: 23 inches.

Standard features: towing eyes, running lights, hydraulic steering, five deck hatches, console and set of three slimline cleats.

Special features: Epoxy-coated fuel tank, integrated foam-filled grid system; hi-tech foam filled honeycomb, ventilated tranverse step, paddle keel, notched transom, 4-inch inverted lift straits.

More information: call Marauder Marine at 7278 848-5319 or email maraudermarine96@hotmail.com