Outrage - vinyl gunwales

[yarnellboat]

As you all probably know, an Outrage with wood gunwales has considerably more flare in its ends than the stock deck plates that Mad River used with its vinyl gunwales.

Has anyone with the vinyl gunwales tried (removing the deck plate and) adding a wider thwart in the end to add some flare?

Would the aluminum gunwales take that shape without busting or distorting the rest of the hull? (I've got some extra ABS, so may be throwing on a different, longer deck plate and splash guard anyway.)

Thanks, P.

[dccjon]

Has anyone with vinyl gunwales tried (removing the deck plate and) adding a wider thwart in the end to add the flare?

While I have not done it with an Outrage (My X has wood rails), I have done this with a MRC Guide with no ill effects. I made a few different lengths of wood to spread the gunwales slowly over the first few feet of the boat so that the rails didn't bend to severely or kink. You can also make a plywood template to push between the rails to form the shape you want. Wouldn't worry about the ABS. It should be plenty durable for this minor reshape.

Jon