OTTER: Fast Outboard Launch

Corky Gallo

Capt. R.D. “Pete” Culler designed this 24′ outboard-powered launch in lengths ranging from 15′ to 30′; Bill Perkins adapted the construction and cabin design for his particular purposes, and built this example.

Bill Perkins is a tall, soft-spoken man with an easy Southern grace. The man knows boats, so when he needed one to transport supplies and people from the Atlantic coast of Georgia to his old family house on Cumberland Island, he looked around pretty hard before settling on Pete Culler’s 24′ Fast Outboard Launch. Capt. Culler designed a whole series of these boats, ranging from 16′ to 30′, all with that signature Culler sheer and stem, and all based upon the design and construction practices of the old Chesapeake Bay working skiffs.The boats of this series were drawn, as their name implies, with outboard power in mind. This is an important distinction: For long-term reliability and economy, I prefer an inboard diesel on a boat this size, but if your particular situation calls for convenience, shallow draft, and a better power-to-weight ratio than an inboard diesel affords, it is hard to beat a modern four-stroke outboard. Boats must be designed for where the weight will be concentrated, though, and to simply slap a big, heavy outboard motor on the stern of a boat intended to carry an inboard engine amidships is bad form. Considering that this series of boats has such a traditional pedigree, being designed from the outset for outboards makes these launches distinctive.