Panga 20 by Bateau.com

Amateur builders love our Outboards Dories, OD16 and OD18 because they are simple, economical and easy to build seaworthy boats.

Many asked for boats with the same qualities but with a vee-hull. We designed a set of rugged, simple to build work boats with a vee-hull based on a proven work boat type, the Panga.

In Mexico, the word "panga" applies to any small boat but mostly to beach launched skiffs between 18 and 26' long. The pangas have a narrow beam and high bow. They are powered by relatively small outboards.

That type of boat is also very common in Africa and in Asia, in particular Indonesia and the Philippines. The most beautiful example of the type is the famous Saintoise, very seaworthy work boats some as long as 35'.

All those boats evolved from the same hull shape: fishing boats designs from the FAO for third world countries.

In the FAO project, the accent was on ease of building and economical operation. Max. HP rating was 10. Because of their hull rocker, the FAO boats were limited to displacement speeds.

Builders modified these plans to allow the boats to plane with larger outboards but kept the original narrow beam, fine entry and high bow. The result are fishing boats of moderate speed designed to hold heavy loads while maintaining fuel efficiency. Our design is based on that hull type. It includes the straight run needed to get on plane.

Like other Pangas, our boats are strong but simple to build and economical to operate.

The 20 footer is a very able but small boat for it's length.

The cockpit is self-bailing up to a displacement of 2,000 lbs. at level trim. Like her bigger sisters, she can be made completely unsinkable with the addition of expandable foam under the sole and under the gunwales. Each two gallon kit of foam provides on the average 500 lbs. of flotation. Considering that the hull material has positive buoyancy, we recommend 3 kits for a total of 6 gallons.

We recommend a 50 HP outboard. With this engine, the PG20 fully loaded will cruise at 25 mph and have a top speed between 28 and 30 mph.

Pangas are designed as work boats, not speed boats and while the PG20 can accept engines as large as 115 HP, we do not recommend to install anything larger than 70 HP.

At DWL displacement and WOT, a 50 HP will give 29 mph and a 70 will go at 35 mph. The minimum HP required to plane at designed displacement of 1,650 lbs is 30.

The interior is clean and simple with a lot of room. With all the open space it can easily accommodate a family for a day on the water.

The builder is given complete freedom in the layout of the boat. As long as the frames shown on the plans are present and common sense is used in weight distribution, almost anything is possible: simple open plan with a center console, thwarts, longitudinal benches, small or large casting deck etc.

The plans show an 18 gallon fuel tank under the casting deck. With the recommended engine, this will provide sufficient range for a full day on the water but if necessary, larger tanks can be installed.

Compared to our flat bottom OD boats, the Pangas with their vee hulls will require a little bit more skill and more labor to build but not much.

Because of their narrow beam, their performance and behavior can not be compared to other vee hulls of the same overall length except for seaworthiness. In the hands of an experienced skipper, they can venture far offshore and take bad weather but they will not offer as much room or speed as a wider boat of the same length.