First build questions?

[cynicalruhf]

I have all ways wanted to learn to sail and love to build stuff so i figured I should build my own sailboat. I wanted to build something small enough for me to put in and pull out the back of my truck so I have narrowed it down to 2 designs. The PDR racer and the one sheet skiff.

I like the PDR's extra capacity and air box positive flotation.
I like the OSS's sharp bow, lighter weight and narrower beam for carrying around.
And according to the sail calculator I have found online the OSS narrow beam is less likely to capsize(doesn't seem right to me,but I don't know much about boats)

Does anyone have any experience with both boats? Which ones is a or would be a better performer? Could you self rescue a OSS or would it sink like a rock? I haven't found much info on the OSS's capabilities.

[alan white]

In general, narrower boats capsize more easily and right more easily. Hull form matters too, in that a narrow boat with the right hull form can be more stable at varying angles of heel, while the same angle of heel in a wider boat could be very unstable. This is of course because the wider boat, all things being equal, changes its shape dramatically when heeled while a narrow boat is more likely to be round-bottomed and so its underwater shape changes less when heeled.
While this holds for canoes and various other small human-powered craft, a sailboat is different in that the force causing the heeling is a sail, and not a human being shifting his weight. On the contrary, the human's weight is on the opposite side of the boat. Most small sailboats therefore do best sailed upright, and so a wider boat will be the one requiring less attention. It will resist puffs better and carry more sail, and allow the sailor to counter the wind's effect by hiking further out.
Narrow sailboats in the size range you're considering will carry small sails or demand acrobatics. They may be lighter and handier, but I'd go for the wider hull if I were you.

Alan

[cynicalruhf]

thanks for the advice