Building

[mlb227]

Where do i look for the kits ive read about for building your own sailboat?
Im thinking something small i could do in my garage, maybe 15' max

[wind_apparent]

what kind of boat are you looking for, there's alot out there under 15', from slow pokie day sailors to super high performance trap skiffs. International Canoes, Moths, The Swift, Falco, F14 cat ect. There are a million kit/home buildable boats out there. Help us out by telling us what your into.

[mlb227]

thanks for the reply, I just moved to oregon from arizona and became very interested in sailing. So Im really just looking for any info,
I would like something that doesnt require an expert ya know, that i can figure out on my own or with the help of you guys, I dont really know alot about sailing yet so this would also be a learning boat. I dont want anything that goes really slow, just something you think would be good to learn on i suppose

[nobrows1212]

I got a set of plans from Selway-Fisher (after building to a different designer's plans) and found the SF boat to be great. You should check out www. duckworksbbs.com-- click on "plans" and there are a dozen designers. John Welsford has some cool 15 footers on there as well. Good luck to you, and if you work around 2-part epoxy use all due care!

[bistros]

Originally Posted by mlb227

thanks for the reply, I just moved to oregon from arizona and became very interested in sailing. So Im really just looking for any info,
I would like something that doesnt require an expert ya know, that i can figure out on my own or with the help of you guys, I dont really know alot about sailing yet so this would also be a learning boat. I dont want anything that goes really slow, just something you think would be good to learn on i suppose

I would recommend NOT building the boat you learn on. The effort, time and expense to build a boat is a labor of love, serious time away from family and great expense. That labor is far better invested once you know the basics and have a better idea of what you really want.

It is easy to convince yourself that the romantic idea of building and sailing your own boat will be fun and the result perfect, but in reality you do not know what kind of sailing is going to be best for you. Building a high performance boat when you have an interested family is a big mistake, or building a dog-slow day sailor may put you off sailing entirely.

Right now the economy sucks, but that means used boats are dead cheap, and you can pick up a learner for next to nothing - far cheaper than building. Get a used boat, learn the basics and have some cheap fun. Once you've spent time on the water, you will have a far better idea of what kind of sailing gets you going, and then you can build one with confidence that it will be right for you.

I want you to LOVE the boat you build, not regret it. Don't get sucked into prematurely looking at plans, reading elaborate build blogs and convincing yourself you NEED a particular design.

--
Bill

[alan white]

Chesepeke light craft has a kit sailboat or two.

[JotM]

Make that Chesapeake Light Craft: http://www.clcboats.com/ and it will be much easier to find.

Edit:
And as far as the cost of self build is concerned, you can make it as cheap as you want. (think PDRacer, or Gavin Atkin's Mouse)

Anyway, the weblog of the UK HBBR (Home Built Boat Rally) offers some thoughts: "Members Boats - Inspiration for the faint hearted?"

[alan white]

Right. `Or give him a fishing pole (Google) and he can catch his own fish.

[lewisboats]

Glen-L, Clark Craft, CLC (above), bateau.com