My one sheet steel boat project

UPDATE!!
The boat is done!!! A little over a year after the first cut this project is finally over. The actual time spent working on this project was short. I'm guessing about 30 hours of work. I had the hull cut and welded in one evening, then about a year later I added the flotation compartments and painted everything with in two weekends of work.

I brought a GPS with me to see how fast I could go...it was a little disapointing. I could cruise at 3.5 with little effort. To get to 4.5 I had to really put some muscle into it. I was expecting a cruising speed of 4 knots. Sometimes its better not knowing I think.

I decided to add a sail rig to it, just because I had an old snark lateen rig laying around. No centerboard or daggerboard though. The boat really is for down wind only, originally I was just going to use it in rivers, but I thought some versatility would be nice. The sail worked way better than I thought. I could easily ghost along at 2 knots even though I could only feel the faintest breeze. Later the wind piped up a bit and I was able to do 5.5-6. I was even to able to sail upwind when it got gusty. I was really surprised how well I could up wind with no board of any kind. All it took was some induced heel. When I say up wind really I mean at about 70 to 80 degrees off the wind, still able to point way higher than I would have guessed.

 

The performance would be about right for a heavy 11ft boat with canoe ends.

Sometime in the future, you might be able to take advantage of steels greatest ability - cut it in half and add another 4 ft in the centre - so much easier to do in steel than any other material, It would make the performance significantly better, while only adding to the weight by a little.

 

A very nice looking boat, with that charming utilitarian look some small boats wear so well.

And just think, it could be around for a long time to come.

 

what software used to do this metal sheet boat ?

 

Great Job!

Hi, I was wondering if you'd be willing to share the plans for this boat? I have just found a sheet of stainless in my stores and would love to put it to good use - I can't think of anything better than this! I'd be happy to credit you in the build and send you pictures of the finished article.
If not, I completely understand - could you tell me the name of the software that you used?
All the best,
James

 

I'd be fine in sharing the plans. Just PM me your email address and I'll send you the files. I used carlson hull designer and freeship software to design the boat. I would however suggest making some changes to the design as I have found the most comfortable seating position is too far forward of the center of buoyancy. I would also add a bit more flare to the top, thats just me though. This should be an easy fix, and half the fun of building a boat is designing it. I made countless paper models before I settled.

 

plans...

Hi Hobo - I'm so new I'm not even sure how to PM you! My email is james (at) globecycle (dot) org - I have no fear of others knowing this address!
Many thanks and I will keep you updated.
J

 

Any photos of you sailing her, hobo_hut? Most impressive!

 

The boat looks great. As long as you maintain the paint it should last forever.

C.O.
http://whatsintheshop.blogspot.com/

 

No photos of the sailing rig yet. Ive ditched the old sunfish rig and have made a new balance lug rig with more area. Also all the spars fit in the boat now which is much nicer and I should get even better light air performance. I won't have photos of the rig for awhile as its now bitterly cold here. Hopefully we will get a break and I can go out and take some photos so you all aren't waiting for the next three months.