Fs18 reduced to 16' long? Is it possible?

[Cefoam]

I really want to take on the project of building my own technical poling skiff, but 18' is too long for me. A 16' boat would 10000x's easier to build/store in my garage. Is it possible to build by plans but to remove a 2' section out?
Thanks
Tommy

[jacquesmm]

You can scale all the lengths to get to 16' but consider that this will increase draft.

[Cefoam]

How much do think it would affect draft? Also would it change the beam/width. Instead of trimming what about just removing 2' off the back and moving all inside supports forward to keep the boat widthes as wide as possible

[jacquesmm]

If you don't change the beam, it will be the same . . .

The shorter will have less volume but not much less weight, that's how it will affect the draft.
Maybe 1/2".

Many worry about the least 1/4" of hull draft then put an oversized engine on the boat and it goes down 5" by the stern.
I would not worry much about the draft change.
A 16' FS18 will be a very small boat, like a large canoe. Built light, it will plane with less than 10 HP.

[Cefoam]

We were thinking a merc 9.9 but still wanted to have front and rear decks as well as a poling platform. Would the boat be to tipsy at 16' for poling and walking around? Thanks

[jacquesmm]

More than the FS18 but less than a 16' canoe.

[Cefoam]

If I were make the beam wider like 6" would that help with being less tipsy

[TomW]

If you widen the beam more than 10% you will need to change the total interior structure and will have a totally different boat not an FS. There are always trade-offs in picking a design and as Jacque says for this one the slightly more tippiness caused by shortening it is the result.

Tom