Outdoors

One design does it all

Ben Sheaffer makes only one boat, but it's made to run in every fishing situation the bay offers.

By TERRY TOMALIN, Outdoors Editor
Published November 2, 2007

While in high school, Ben Sheaffer landed a part-time job working for Johnson Boat Repair, the legendary Tampa marine shop that a national magazine would later dub "The Boat Doctor." Sheaffer worked on everything, from tiny recreational skiffs to large commercial fishing boats, learning boat building from the hull up.

"People would bring us old boats to restore," he said. "We would always see the same ones - Aquasports, Prolines and Makos." The boats, different models and manufacturers, were all built during the same time period - 1968 to 1974. They had one thing in common: quality.

"These boats could do anything," he said. "We called them hybrids because they could fish the backcountry and still make a long run across the bay."

But Aquasport only built so many model 222s, and Sheaffer knew that eventually the supply of old beat-up hulls would run dry. After finishing school and spending some time at sea, he decided to buy that repair business in 1989.

But restoring an old boat is an expensive proposition, so Sheaffer decided that, in the long run, it would be more cost effective to build a modern version of the old classics. He built his own version of the ultimate Tampa Bay fishing boat - the center console Sheaffer 239 Sportfish.

In 1989, "flats" fishing became the biggest thing to rock the angling world since monofilament line. People had been fishing the inshore areas of Tampa Bay for more than 100 years, but now, boat builders began making watercraft specifically designed to glide across the sea grass beds, prime habitat for trout, redfish and snook.

It seemed like the number of boat builders and charter captains catering to this type of fishing quadrupled overnight. But Sheaffer knew that the shallow-running crafts had their drawbacks.

"Here in Tampa Bay and down in Charlotte Harbor, you need a boat that can run in shallow water but still provide a stable platform for fishing if you decide to run offshore," he said. "So we built a boat based on those classic designs with the most up-to-date, technologically advanced material possible."

When Sheaffer made that first boat, he wasn't quite sure what to call it.

"Inshore/offshore?" he said. "Backcountry/bluewater?"

He found out quickly that the name did not matter. His first customers were seasoned anglers who had owned one or two boats before. They knew exactly what they were looking for in a fishing boat.

The Sheaffer 239 has a solid hull and a 13-inch draft that enables it to run in skinny water, yet the sharp bow entry and low (13-degree) transom deadrise make it capable of handling a chop. The broad beam offers exceptional stability and room enough for four serious fishermen to cast comfortably without snagging each other.

"Working all those years repairing boats, I saw what other people did wrong," Sheaffer, now 46, explained. "That is how I knew what to do right."

Sheaffer uses no wood in his hulls. The fiberglass is hand-laid: sandwich construction, using core-cell structural foam and high-quality marine resin. Vacuum-bagging strengthens and consolidates the laminate, which produces a higher glass-to-resin composite without voids or air pockets.

The result is a boat built to last.

"Serious boaters want ease of maintenance," Sheaffer said. "They want a boat that they can use, hose down when they are done and it will last forever."

When equipped with a 250-horsepower engine, the Sheaffer 239 can hit a top speed of 47 mph. The low deadrise helps the boat get on plane quickly.

Unlike, some other boats of its kind, the reverse-chine design makes for an exceptionally dry ride. The hull is equipped with large scuppers to help keep the cockpit water-free.

Quality takes time. As a result, Sheaffer only builds two boats a month. Most are custom orders that are sold before construction even begins.

"Our customers are well-educated in the boat-building process," he said. "Our boats are not like the ones that come off a production line."

Over the years, Sheaffer has never seen the need to come out with more than one model, unlike most boat companies.

"We build what we think is the perfect boat for fishing Tampa Bay," he said. "Why do anything else?"

Sheaffer's skiffs have caught on in other areas of the United States as well. "We are starting to get orders from the Chesapeake Bay area as well," he said. "They have some serious fishermen up there, and they have to deal with similar conditions on the water."

Sheaffer's boats are not cheap. The base model, without extras, starts upward of $55,000. A top model can cost as much as $142,000.

But his customers seem to be satisfied.

"I love my boat," said Dr. Stephen Updegraff, an ophthalmologist and avid angler who has won his share of inshore fishing tournaments. "It is a work of art, but still very functional."

Fast facts

Sheaffer 239-V

Length: 23 feet 11 inches

Beam: 8 feet 6 inches

Draft: 13 inches on SSC model

Fuel capacity: 96 gallons

Weight, without engine: 3,200 pounds

Maximum horsepower: 250

Source: Sheaffer Marine, (813) 786-7701 or online at www.sheaffermarine.com.

[Last modified November 2, 2007, 00:50:47]