Sailboat plans

Im looking for good sailboat plans to purchase. Most of what Ive seen on the internet are outdated designs with terrible shapes. I really would like to find a design with sweet lines and that classic wine glass transom look. Im looking for 27 -35 feet and must be seaworthy. Building our own sailboat has been a long time dream for me and my son. Thanks for any help!

Steve

 

Welcome to the forum.

The "plans houses" online will have fairly dated looking stuff, but aesthetics can be updated to any style you'd like. Your wine glass section requirement also means the design will likely be quite old, because canoe sections have been in favor for over a half a century. Some new, traditional hull shapes have been designed, but as you'd expect, they still look like old hull forms.

The first question would be, how many boats have you built, simply because a 27' to 35' project is a huge mission to take on, even for an experienced builder. Seaworthiness is more a function of skipper and crew skill than hull form. A Category A vessel, that's well handled will cross oceans with no problems, but the same vessel handled poorly, will often manage to find itself in danger.

Lastly, there's a significant different between a 27' and a 35' yacht, given similar hull forms. A typical 27' built down hull, will be a fairly comfortable camp cruiser, while a 35' boat will be a modest bachelor live aboard. The 27'er might be trailerable, but the 35'er, not so much.

You might want to look into the last generations of the CCA production boats. These will be relatively cheap and you can find them in distress. These late 60's early 70's boats will have the built down sections you want and you can remodel her up as you like. Nope, it's not like building a boat, but it is a lot cheaper and you'll be on the water a lot faster too. I know where there's a Cal 40 for a few grand. It's currently floating (in Florida) and has it's sail plan. It's a bit rough, but can be sailed. It has the usual issues of these era boats, but hell you could take a chain saw to the deck cap and liner, make a whole new interior and deck layout to suit your desires, for a fraction of the cost of building a new hull, plus it has all the equipment on board, though the old Atomic is locked up.

 

PAR thank you for your reply. I have no boat building experience to speak of. I am an electrician/carpenter and figured with a lot of research and questions on forums such as this one, I could get it done. I am interested in the cal 40 floating somewhere in Florida as a rebuild might be more realistic for us than a ten year plus build. A friend of mine owned a CAL 27 which I believe was an early 80's model and I love it. Could you please give details on the whereabouts of the cal 40 and how to contact the owner? Thank you much.

Steve

 

I'm not sure where you are in Florida, but there's a huge glut of older yachts on the market, so don't get married to anything yet.


Near Ft. Pierce


Miami


Fort Lauderdale


Sarasota


Fort Lauderdale

A quick look and all of these are available for $10K or less, a few around $5k. If you spend $20k, the offerings open up dramatically.

Cut the deck cap off, build a new, custom interior and deck and get on the water in a year, instead of a decade. You can also sail and enjoy it while gathering up materials, finding a building space, etc. I mention this because a 35' yacht is a huge project and would be against the odds for a novice builder, statistically, to complete.

 

Low priced boats will not be found at brokers as the pennyless lookey lous take up HUGE time with no sales.

Look in Florida Mariner for owner listed boats , on line.

Then go visit a few dozen and you will have an idea what is a good deal when you find it.

I would look for an older CCA boat at about 40 ft.

Very heavy GRP (by today's standards) with modest accomodations and very good sailing qualities

Not spacious but usually scantlings built for the ocean.

 

Those outdated designs with terrible shapes are probably the sort of things you can actually build without needing millions in tooling. A seaworthy 35'er will cost you more than $200K in materials at retail prices - more than the Hunters and Catalinas pay for materials and labor combined. By all means build a boat, but build a few under 20' before investing your life's savings in one. Fixing up an older one makes so much sense nowadays. You want to really bottom fish though. I bought a 30'er for $1. Good engine, good sails, good ground tackle, clean title, just sitting in the wrong place. All it needed was bleach and rags, and a couple of loads of junk run to the dump. It had been owned by a tugboat captain who had gotten a job out of town and didn't want the liability. Any problem with the sail boat could have jeopardized her job.

 

man am I glad I got on this forum before I went and purchased plans, patterns, or both! I really appreciate all the input. I'm now convinced purchasing a project boat would be best and just as rewarding. Ill start researching the internet and see what I can find. Thanks a bunch folks!

 

You can really transform a boat this way, here's an interesting thread on the woodenboat forum:
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthr...nteresting-project-mostly-woodenboat-part-not

 

I'm now convinced purchasing a project boat would be best and just as rewarding. Ill start researching the internet and see what I can find. Thanks a bunch folks!

A cosmetic project is fine , but do you have the knowledge and skill set to even just swop the engine out?

The other hassle wit refits is BESTITIS.

Do you want to find and rebuild a real quality manual head , or install a vacuum system that is push button?

A cheap new $125 head is not worth considering .

There will be dozens of traps , refrigeration can be $2K-$10K depending on Desirements.

A Huge knowledge pool required for hundreds of decisions.

Easiest is a high quality boat with high quality gear , and just Remove and Replace as required on failures.

 

I agree with Fred's sentiments. A used boat is by far the best economic and time deal for most entry sailors. My opinion is, get the boat in the best condition that fits your budget. A boat in good condition is less expensive than a cheap, or even free one, that needs a lot of work and money to fix up.

That is not always true, but in the glutted market today, its more true than ever. People not using a boat get very tired of paying slip or storage fees. This often results in very dirty boats with green topsides and decks. Don't confuse dirty with condition. Even lots of barnacles should not be an automatic turn off.

 

Do remember boats are built to very different scantlings and specs.

IF YOU WANT TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE , you will be looking at vastly different boats than if you want to run the ICW or pop over to the Bahamas for a winter.

Define your requirements and save a lot of time.

 

Hallo

Here in Spain we are building a 20 feet boat with modern shapes, i did the plans as I'm an architect…
If you want send me pictures of the boats you like and I can make the plans according to your necessities
veuliahyachts@gmail.com

Bye

Carlo Petarino

 

http://u.jimdo.com/www25/o/s52d640dc89383dd2/img/i92de7df9d464ce34/1355091698/std/image.jpg


33 ft
strip planking


http://www.carlobertorello.com/stock-plans/

 

Thank you Steve

I'll see what I can find,

personally In 33 ft I like this boat:

http://www.hensevalyachtdesign.com/monocoques/ldm-33-10m/

and this our webpage

http://veuliah.wix.com/veuliahyachts

Bye

Carlo