# Starcraft Patriot 14 TL Decision and Build Thread



## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Some of you might be in the market for a 14' fishing boat, so I thought I'd share my story of how I ended up with a Starcraft Patriot 14 TL. For those of you currently rigging your boats, I figured I'd share some my build thread.

Goal: I wanted a boat that would fit in my smallish garage, be as stable as possible for its length, and be a good platform for trolling for lake trout on a deep inland lake, while also being a good boat for spot-and-stalk jigging for walleye on inland lakes. I also wanted it to have enough draft and free-board to be comfortable on nice days near the piers at Lexington, Sanilac, and Harbor Beach. I wanted a tiller steer boat to maximize the cockpit space.

Options: I considered the following boats, listed in the order that I discovered them / fell in love and then ruled them out;

Tracker Kodiak 1448. Pros: low price, thick aluminum, pretty good floor plan. Cons: semi-v hull would not handle near shore lake huron waves or LSC chop very well. The rear casting deck is too deep and you have to have your leg up to turn sideways.
Lund Fury 1400. Pro: popular brand, great floor plan. Livewell centered and up front. Cons: a little more expensive, the rod lockers don't run under the casting deck, so you are limited to 7' rods. Fit and finish was below what I was expecting for the price and popularity. Specifically, the spray rail / chine had large gaps between the rail and hull between each rivet. It probably wouldn't affect the functionality, but it looked cheap.
Alumacraft Escape 145. Pros: Gorgeous boat with a gunnel rail track, great front casting deck with a centered livewell. Cons; didn't like rod locker on only one side (less capacity) and it too did not go under the casing platform. Cost was about $3,000 more than Starcraft.
Crestliner 1450 Discovery. Pros; Well respected brand, pretty interesting floor plan, gunnel rail track. Cons: The rod locker in the floor seemed cool at first, but it doesn't hold many rods and I think gear or my crew would always be on top of it when I needed to get inside. The open rod storage on the side is handy, but not useful for leaving the boat in the parking lot of the local bait shop. I did not like the off-center livewell. They did this to accommodate the optional side console. Price was about $3K higher than Starcraft.
Fortunately, I came across the Smoker Craft 14 TL. It had a great layout like the Lund Fury, but the rod lockers go under the casting deck. I can put 8'+ rods in the lockers. I soon learned that the Starcraft Patriot 14 TL is the identical boat with a different hull color and decal on the side. Since my Dad had a Starcraft when I was a kid, I decided I wanted the Patriot.

































I bought the boat and trailer (no motor) from Lakeside Motorsports in Mecosta (by Mt. Pleasant) a few weeks ago. Their showroom and lot is amazing. There staff was first class. Their price was competitive. Definitely worth the drive. Here are a few pictures of her in the buff.

I'll add more to the story in a bit...


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## GreatlakesCowboy (Feb 16, 2019)

Loving this thread Holzer, looks like you're going to have a sweet vessel and some memories to go with it.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

The motor....

So it turns out that used 20-30 HP four stroke outboards are really hard to find in the middle of winter. The ones you do find are stupid expensive - nearly the price of new.

I decided if I was going to buy new, I wanted a Mercury 25 ELHPT. I wanted Mercury because they have the twist-shift gear shift. I've not used one, but it seems ideal for spot and stalk jigging. I also wanted a Mercury because it is an American company and my boat model is a Patriot. (Note, the motor is made in China - so I'm told). I wanted electric start so that it would have an alternator to charge my battery. L is for long shaft. The Patriot has a 20" transom. H is for tiller handle. PT is power trim. I don't fish shallow much, but hey, in for a penny, in for a pound. How many motors will I buy in my life anyway?

It also turns out that a new 25 HP Mercury ELHPT is nearly impossible to buy right now. Some sort of customs problem in China or tariffs or something. Mercury isn't sending any more units to dealers until mid year. I spent 2 weeks searching the web and calling at least 30 dealerships. I was able to locate a few new, but not 2021 model year motors. I ended up getting a pretty good deal on a new 2018 model from Boaters Value Store in Wyandotte MI. I hauled the boat down in 15 degree weather last week and they got the motor mounted nicely. The store, while older, was very well stocked with all the cool odds and ends that you'd never find at Bass Pro. The install crew was awesome. They involved me in several of the decisions and they went through the inspection and orientation lists meticulously. We fired her up in the parking lot and she lit up in the first second of the button push. Purrrred like a kitten.

I ended up with a 12.5 pitch quick silver prop. It is a bit high and might be boggy, but we didn't want to over-rev the engine during the first 10 hours of operation. Besides, I intend to buy a spare, so I'll get one with less pitch so that I can choose the one that works best.

Here is the motor as she hangs. Oh yeah, the boat came with a cover that I installed. Nice surprise....


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Boat specs...

I forgot to list the boat specs, so here is a screen shot from Starcraft's website.








Note, they list the deadrise at the transom of 7 degrees. Many other sites have it listed as 15 degrees. I haven't measured it, but it is definitely one of the few boats in this size that has the v going all the way back to the stern. Most are basically flat bottomed boats in the rear. This should make for a softer ride at speed.








Also, take a look at the mini trim tabs. Cool eh? I'm not sure how well they work or why Smoker Craft decided the boat needed them. I have not seen them on any other small boat. Seems like a little more bang for the buck... or a bandaid.

Finally, one more comment about the boat package as it came from the factory. Along with the mooring cover, it came with a spare tire mount and spare tire. Picture taken on the way to go get the motor mounted.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

It's getting late so I'll discuss ringing tomorrow. Here are a few close up pictures I'll comment on later too.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

GreatlakesCowboy said:


> Loving this thread Holzer, looks like you're going to have a sweet vessel and some memories to go with it.


Thanks Cowboy. I'm glad you like the thread. She hasn't been in the water yet, but I've sat onboard on more than one occasion to day dream of fishing with my parents who are now 78 years old and still love to fish.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Rigging and Modifications.

Okay, time to get to the fun stuff. Like many of you, I visualized how I would rig the boat, long before I bought it. I knew I wanted to utilize my downriggers and my rod trees from my 20' Nauticstar dual console. The downriggers drop into my flush mount gimbal rod holders by way of Big Jon gimbal mounts. My rod trees slide into Cisco tracks.

On the Patriot, I wanted the downriggers just forward of the stern seating position so that it was easy to handle the weights and clip on lines. I wanted the rod trees quite a ways forward so that I had clean gunnels to net fish, jig, etc.

I made a list of things I needed to buy and do to rig the boat. Here are the lists.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Deck Removal

On the first night home, I removed the rear casting deck to find out what was underneath. I found the foam flotation blocks. I decided I didn't want to cut those up and I also didn't want to cut wire through-holes in the sheet metal side panels. 









I decided the cup holders just aft of the rod lockers might be something to make use of. I took off the rod locker lids to see what options I'd have. As you can see, there is a void under the cup holders where the rod butts sit when they pass through the rod locker cut-outs. I decided I could mount Atwood flush mount gimbal rod holders in the cupholder holes. These would then receive the post under my downriggers. I wanted the downrigger to be able to rotate 360 degrees above the gunnel, so I was going to need a riser to raise up the flush-mount gimbal rod holder.
















I am fortunate to work at a company that has its own machine shop, so I sketched up the riser I needed. It had to be 1.5" tall and big enough to cover the cup holder cut-out. I also wanted the flush-mount to be as far aft as possible so that the top fishing rod in the locker had plenty of room for it's butt-end. Attached is my sketch. The shop produced the riser out of aluminum and I eagerly mounted them to the rod locker lid. You can see the underside of the lid with washers in place. The final setup works just like I hoped!



































I sit on a type IV throw cushion so that the tiller is within easy reach and the cockpit remains as wide open as possible. (I don't think I'll ever mount the post and seat that came with the boat.) From the captain's seat I can easily reach behind each downrigger and they are out of the way of my elbow.


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

I would recommend putting the down riggers far enough forward that there's room for the passenger to set them while you are steering the boat with the tiller. But if you are going to only be using it for fishing solo, still put them as far forward as you can while still being able to touch the tiller for steering.

I've played with downriggers on my little tiller boat with the mounts off the back corners. Having to face the stern of the boat while setting them is not good setup, and without any steering linkage holding the engine straight, it is pretty easy for the boat to quickly start heading in an unexpected direction. With everything crammed in the back, even if you've got two people on board, there's only so much room in the back.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Rod Trees

Mounting the rod trees was easy compared to the downriggers. I bought the 12" Cisco tracks so that I'd have room for some other attachments in the future. They fit nicely just forward of the locker lid, but just short of the casting deck.



























The Blue Water rod trees are fantastic in that they have pivot levers at every joint. I can angle the lower tube just over the gunnel. If I wanted, I could get it horizontal by raising the collar up to the level of the gunnel. I especially like being able to rotate all 3 tubes inboard for docking and for running fast.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

piketroller said:


> I would recommend putting the down riggers far enough forward that there's room for the passenger to set them while you are steering the boat with the tiller. But if you are going to only be using it for fishing solo, still put them as far forward as you can while still being able to touch the tiller for steering.
> 
> I've played with downriggers on my little tiller boat with the mounts off the back corners. Having to face the stern of the boat while setting them is not good setup, and without any steering linkage holding the engine straight, it is pretty easy for the boat to quickly start heading in an unexpected direction. With everything crammed in the back, even if you've got two people on board, there's only so much room in the back.



I like recommendations and opinions! Keep them coming!

90% of the time, I'll be the only one touching the downriggers. 

I could not mount them any further forward on the deck due to the hatch / lid of the rod lockers. I considered mounting them on the gunnel using BigJon clamp on downrigger bases. However, I did not like that they would always protrude at the dock and they would need to come off to cover the boat. Most importantly, they didn't allow for the drop-in gimbal mount.


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

Holzer said:


> I like recommendations and opinions! Keep them coming!
> 
> 90% of the time, I'll be the only one touching the downriggers.
> 
> I could not mount them any further forward on the deck due to the hatch / lid of the rod lockers. I considered mounting them on the gunnel using BigJon clamp on downrigger bases. However, I did not like that they would always protrude at the dock and they would need to come off to cover the boat. Most importantly, they didn't allow for the drop-in gimbal mount.


I didn't realize you had another post in the works while I was typing mine.

If you do find you need to move them forward, the Traxstech could probably make you a version of their narrow gunnel clamps to fit that boat, or your machine shop buddies could probably mimic it as well.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Power Distribution

Electric downriggers need power and paranoid captains need battery disconnect switches.

The boat came with the 3-switch panel on the starboard stern. It had ring terminals on the harness for direct connection to the battery. I needed something more.

I bought a Blue Top Optima and then installed a Blue Seas disconnect and fuse panel. I also wanted a USB charging port for my tether, I mean, phone. I found a USB port with a volt meter on amazon and a little junction box to mount it in. I extended the harness on the factory panel, made some cables for the downriggers and then mounted the components in an out of the way space under the rear casting deck.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

piketroller said:


> I didn't realize you had another post in the works while I was typing mine.
> 
> If you do find you need to move them forward, the Traxstech could probably make you a version of their narrow gunnel clamps to fit that boat, or your machine shop buddies could probably mimic it as well.
> 
> View attachment 752855



Agree! Good solution if I need it. Thanks for the picture.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Graph Mount

I plan to eventually put a trolling motor on the Patriot and I'll want it linked to a chart plotter.

I currently have a Lowrance Elite Ti linked to a Motorguide Xi5 on my bigger boat and I love it. Anchor mode and autopilot are life savers when fishing with kids. The combination does have some quirks, so I decided my next pair would come from one parent company.

The Helix & Terrova combo is fairly pricy and I'm not sold on them yet. It seems like the Lowrance Ghost and the Garmin Force still have a few kinks to work. I decided I would fish the Patriot old-school for one season and then see where the product development is at next year.

Given that I decided to punt a big purchase, the cost effective choice was made to make use of the portability of the Lowrance Ram mount on my existing Ti and then just add a new TotalScan transducer. The transducer was a little tricky because of the mini trim tabs. Inboard of them puts the transducer too close to the motor. Immediately outboard of them is a lifting / tracking strake under the hull. I ended up mounting the transducer on the flat step just inside of the corner of the boat. I don't like the location since it exposes the transducer to potential collisions, but I could find no better option. I mounted it with the stern saver blocks you find on amazon.








I wanted the graph to be on the Port side, like most pro-level tiller boats. The patriot is quite wide at 77", so mounting the graph on the rod locker would place it out of reach from my comfortable seat in the back starboard corner. As a solution, I purchased the Ram swing-arm mount. It allow the graph to swing out towards me while operating the motor. If I am casting on the front deck, I can swing the arm towards the bow and the graph is in usable viewing distance. If a salmon should create chaos in the back of the boat while two guys battle, the swing arm quickly tucks the graph out of the way.








I mounted the Ram arm on a stern saver block so that 1) I didn't have to drill holes in the rod locker. (there is an inner wall in the locker that traps a flotation foam panel between the cockpit wall) and 2) so the graph was that much closer to my reach. I hope the 3M adhesive holds! If not, I'll get some sheet metal screws...








You can see my knees in the first picture. That's from where I steer sitting on the rear deck. The wiring is untidy at that point.

In the second picture, I've added the power cable to the graph and tacked down the wiring. You can also see my ruler decal. That's for measuring questionable eater walleye. It came free with my muskie ruler shown in the third picture. I bought them off amazon.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Creature Features

I saw a video on youtube that listed 10 small boat hacks. I thought 2 of them would be good for the patriot.

The first was the fold up cup holders that you can find at your boat dealer or basspro. I put one on either side of the motor so I could have my coffee AND my gatorade. I thought about putting them on the cockpit walls, but figured they'd get knocked off quickly. I plan to add some Cisco cup holders to the rod tree tracks.








The second good idea was battery operated LED courtesy lights. I bought 4 headlamps from Dunham's for $10 each. They have multiple light settings, including red and green lights. I mounted one under the rear casting deck and faced it forward. I put one under the bow trolling motor cap / deck to illuminate the front casting deck. The other two are mounted on the gunnel next to the rod trees. From there, they light the cockpit as well as the rod lockers when opened. The tilt feature of the headlamp is handy. I used 3M double sided tape to mount them.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

So now that you've seen bit by bit of the rigging, here are some photos of the whole package.


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## Holzer (Oct 20, 2012)

Well, that's about enough fun for one night. Next time I'll post some of my likes and dislikes about the boat as it came from the factory.

I'll also list some of the future modifications that I think are likely to happen.

Man, I wish the lake ice would melt....


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## Chad Fortier (Aug 19, 2020)

Holzer said:


> Creature Features
> 
> I saw a video on youtube that listed 10 small boat hacks. I thought 2 of them would be good for the patriot.
> 
> ...


Hey bro, I love what you've done so far that looks amazing! 

But can I ask you a question, where did you get those red led lights? Do they run off batteries? 

Those would be perfect for me at night time hunting and watching our local river fireworks. Kids need to see lol


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## Chad Fortier (Aug 19, 2020)

Chad Fortier said:


> Hey bro, I love what you've done so far that looks amazing!
> 
> But can I ask you a question, where did you get those red led lights? Do they run off batteries?
> 
> Those would be perfect for me at night time hunting and watching our local river fireworks. Kids need to see lol


Oh **** never mind i started reading after I posted I'm an idiot lol


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