A few things (some new, some reinforced) from a recent trip with a small boat being launched off of the beach:
1) A transom that rejects breaking waves is a good thing, little boats fill up pretty quickly with pretty small waves when being winched onto the trailer.
2) Impact resistance of the keel/middle is key for beach landings (highish speed up onto sand, winch onto trailer afterward)
3) A fine entry is key to comfort going fastish over any sort of chop at all. Surtees boats extend the forward 1/4 down deep and forward, almost like a mohawk
4) Impact resistance in other parts of the hull that can/will impact the trailer during a beach landing. Bottom from a thicker stronger ply with kevlar weave over the top?
5) The smaller the better, holding a 5m tinny in the waves is hard work for a little man like me, bigger would be near impossible, especially with any wind.
6) A trailer that puts the boat as low as possible is key. Airbagged or hydraulic or similar such that the deepest part is virtually touching the sand = ideal.
7) Downward deflection of all upward water movement not only provides more lift, but importantly, also keeps the occupants/gear dry, which is important in a small boat.
8) Comfortable rear facing seating for marlin fishing = essential in a small boat with no cabin to go and relax in.
9) Comfortable forward facing seating for motoring through waves = essential in a small boat with low mass and high movement from waves.
10) Good foot hold and thigh rest = essential for tracing, gaffing, and final parts of the fight (controlling the fish up to the boat)
11) Having two bungs is a pain, having no pump is a pain too. A rear sump on the deck and a single big pump to help move water out fast would be a HUGE help.
12) Water ingress to the front cabin area should be prevented via design, ie, a step up for the seats, and maybe another before the downward steps into the cabin.
13) Shelter from the sun and/or rain while motoring and/or trawling would be welcome, but I think I covered this in the above stuff anyway.
14) Seating on the exterior front of the cabin would be a winner, esp combined with the front deck walking space not needing to be expansive, really
15) Roof of cabin should not dump water over the side, instead it should catch it and direct it down a tube to prevent cockpit and cabin wetness
16) A high speed electric trailer winch, not out of laziness, out of "get boat on trailer before next wave floods it" and "wave outruns person turning winch handle and slackens line" etc.
17) ballast tanks that can be quickly emptied for planing but provide stability at rest, see Surtees design again.
18) things to pull yourself out of the water with = essential. Preferably without deploying a ladder, IE, off the cuff.
19) strakes(sp?) and/or keels = straight tracking through a seaway, the boat I was on had a smooth hull and would skew around semi-uncontrollably in waves while under power, kinda just sliding down them towards the lowest point. This is undoubtedly why most small boats have those bumps on them. Necessary for handling IMO. Likewise a keel that stops roughly in the middle will assist steering. A keel that protrudes too far aft will prevent it.
Front deck not a death trap IE, flat for walking/standing on, counter examples are easy to find
Saw a really nice example of this done on a 6.1m Surtees, but can't find pics online. I took a couple myself and will upload. It cut into cabin space, but not in a serious way, or so it seemed. The same boat had a nice wave deflector setup on it that I bet works great.
Deep V is OK with an outboard, but becomes a pain with a traditional drive line.
Deep V in the front tapering to flattish at the back seems to be a winner move if it can be made to work with my desired construction.
Expect some sketches and photos to accompany this post.
Fred.