Where to build??

[siolaakis]

Hi, I am planing to build a wooden sailboat by myself. Now regardless of what design, I would like to know where is it cheaper to build in terms of wood and hardware prices. I do have several choices: USA, Britain,Ireland or anywhere in European union.I also thought about building in Malaysia since I heard that the wood is cheap there and they do have good boat builders/craftsman, in the case one would need help and advise.So please let me know if you have an idea.
Thank you Akis

[Maciej]

You can choose Polish (neighbour) yacht yard. We have skilled craftsmen.

Maciej
www.pmcyachts.com
info@pmcyachts.com

[Dutch Peter]

I understand Turkey is cheap and good quality.

[Eric Sponberg]

You may be mistaken to build far away from home. You have to figure in the logistics of getting to and from the building site, or if you move to that country, the cost of living compared to the cost of living in Germany. You may lose out in the end big time when you figure in the logistics costs.

It is very difficult to calculate where materials and equipment prices are going to be cheapest because they vary all over the world. Also, the most expensive part of boat building is the labor, so you may go to Malaysia for cheap labor, but then you have expensive equipment prices because they all have to be imported to the country of build, and that will involved transportation costs and perhaps taxes.

I always recommend to my clients to build close to home. That saves on the logistics of overseeing construction and communicating with the builder, and usually, the builder can give a big discount on the retail prices of the equipment. Remember, equipment retail prices are always double the wholesale price, and a builder giving you a 25% discount is splitting the mark-up with you. This is a big concession. I have also experienced builders charging only 10-15% above wholesale, which is an even bigger discount for the owner.

Make life easy on yourself--build close to home.

Eric

[djwkd]

whereever you move to to buy wood,if you,say lived in germany,and moved to america to build your boat,the wood prices may be ,lower,but your pay will lower,too,so your spending the same percentage of your money.

[Gypsie]

Malaysia could suit you, the hull timbers ( recommend Changai Batu) is by no means cheap but the locals are experts at building timber vessels, the labour is cheap and there are plenty of yards. A wide variety of timbers for yacht interiors ( Oak, Mahogany, Cherrywood, teak, maple and more ) as well as Burmese teak decking are also available here in Malaysia.

[Herman]

Building a boat yourself is one thing, but having it built by someone else, and supervise it yourself, is another thing.

In the first case, you can either choose to build it as close as possible to your house. That way the building process will interfere as little as possible with your family life. The other option is to build it where materials are cheap, but the impact on family life is bigger.

Having it built by someone else, and supervise the build yourself is another thing. However, please do keep in mind that your project will for 70% be a project of communication. You have to be able to communicate with the workers, or at least the foremen, and your presence will be needed several times, just to prevent the workers from working in the wrong direction.
My experience is that even in your native country and language, at least one of you (the builder or the client) needs very good communicating skills, to end the project succesfully.
If you decide to build abroad, and in a different language, I am sure you will both need those communicating skills.

Been there, done that (both succesfull and unsuccesfull).

If you decide to do a purely self built, see for materials on "old stock lists", second hand (Ebay) etc. There is a lot to be gained in that area. ( I sometimes buy material for less than 10% of the commercial value)