Tomcat 24 Steps to Upper Station

I have a 24' and have been thinking about and sketching plans for a tower for about 3 years. I fish offshore about 20-25 days a year for bluefin, yellowfin, dorado, and yellowtail. I have a custom set of bow rails on the front that allows two people to stand safely on the bow. While we are trolling offshore, I have a guy or two up front with a set of stabilized binoculars. If they were sitting in a seat on the roof, their heads would be about 18" higher, which makes it hard to justify the $8-10K or more of expense.

That being said, it would be way more comfortable in a tower and, more importantly, I would be able to sit up there instead of in the house driving.

To the common question about weight and center of gravity, I would not be worried about it. I have had a guy or two on the roof when fishing off shore and not felt like the physics of boat change substantially. If it was blowing 20+ in 5-6' seas, I wouldn't have a guy in the tower.

Keep the photos coming of your build. I would love to see a 24' with a tower. If you guys ever have any questions about 24's let me know. Our family loves our Tomcat.
Tim
 
Hey Tim! I am very happy that you posted. Myself and two of my best friends bought this boat to customize it and do a lot of what you do. I just binge watched all of your Youtube videos. My two year old got a real kick out of watching your girls play in the water. I just broke my leg and had surgery on it Thursday so I am laid up on the couch for the foreseeable future. Giving me a lot of time to watch Youtube videos. Myself and one other guy have a family of four. We plan to use the boat for offshore fishing and island hopping in the keys and Bahamas. Guys trips and family trips.

We didn't think that we had enough money in the budget for a tower, but we found this upper station for a good deal and decided to make it work. We are really excited for sight fishing and boat handling abilities. Also, I think a tower will look nice on this hull with its aggressive lines. I am glad to hear that you don't think the weight shift is concerning. We are going to try to keep it as light as possible.

I will be sure to create a build thread for the boat and I will take you up on your offer immediately, haha! Here are some questions. Do you have issues with the weight on your transom? I see you have 135's which are 485 lbs. We sold the Yamaha 100's that were on there and bought a pair of Suzuki/Johnson 140's. A weight increase from 363 to 425 per motor. Are your batteries in the transom? Do you use that back box as a livewell? If so, how did you set that up? What performance do you see with the 135's with speed and fuel burn? Also, I noticed you had a few gas tanks on your roof. What size fuel tanks do you have and what usable range do you seem to get? I just ordered new tanks for the boat this week. We are increasing the size from the larger stock aluminum tanks at 58gals to Moeller plastic 64gal tanks. Sorry for all the questions. Like I said, I have an inordinate amount of time on my hands right now. Thank you so much!
 
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