Fiberglass hull construction cost

Did you read my post? I posted an experienced rate and qualified it as incorrectly per foot based

7000kg x $15Euro is 105k euro
Convert to usd. $125000

my estimates are not Thailand rates and reflect epoxy and corecell construction, unpaid principal builder

I estimated $140,000 low end to get to cheaper mats, so we are off by a whopping $15000..

 

Thanks again for the estimate. I have not abandoned the post, but It is clear that forum discussions go to a certain point... A boat can't be built on a forum. Perhaps was just too early to get it out on a forum.. As the project progress forward I can update on cost estimates and eventually on final costs if people are interested.

 

Did You read my post?
I mean that cost is not linear to length. Should be per weight, usd/kg, i.e. close to cube of length. Not 'per foot'.

 

The cost of a boat is also largely influenced by the complexity of the design. A single chine Vee bottom will be much cheaper to build than a lapstrake. Conversely, a monohull, in general, will be cheaper than a catamaran. The method of construction is also a major difference. By Alik's method, a cored hull would be a lot cheaper to build, which we all know it is much more expensive.

 

Cost of the bare boat is the simplest. You can go to any trustworthy boatbuilder and ask for a quote to build a bare hull. Labor/materials/supervision all in.

But the cost of the boat is more than that. To break down;
1. Engineering - cost to design and build a mold to be amortized.
2. Hull Production - cost to build the hull. Labor/materials/supervision/overhead/utilities
3. Machinery and Outfitting-cost to complete the boat
4. Shipping- Unless FOB, delivery by land (trailer,sea launch) , sea (piloted, by container, or deck load)
5. Marketing cost- You have to beat your chest to show the world you have a boat to create interest. Zero interest=No sales. Single interest means the only one who is interested gets to bear the cost of the mold.

Last is the cost of money. The cash outlay needs to be programmed. It is not that you wait until until you have accumulated 1 million dollar to start building a 1 million dollar boat. Building takes 4 to 6 months for a small boat.

 

No, not cheaper. Cored hull has higher cost factor, USD per kg.
Cost estimates in boatbuilding are made based on weight of structure. Cost factor is taken by material and type of structure.

 

Again, reread my post.

allow me to quote myself

'boats are not typically costed per foot'

glad I could help

 

Again, this is hair splitting, but Gonzo points out that a lighter boat may not be a cheaper boat and he is correct.

we find ourselves in polemics on wide open questions

 

I will offer the OP that I missed badly on metal costs and costs to cable and electrical systems for an outboard powercat. A metal framed bimini or other metal work stacked up fast. Electrical components are also very expensive, if, for example, you use czone or other higher end control systems. Even a radar is highly variable and you can spend from 2k-8k in a hurry. A 6k hit to an original budget of 120k, for example, is 5% on radar!

 

Lighter boat has higher cost factor per 1kg, because they are evidently using more advanced tech and more expensive source materials.
We did this study for different materials.

 

The extreme example for cost per foot is probably the 80' cargo ferry prototype.

From what I gathered it's mostly 1800gsm for the hull so ~3kg/m² and maybe 18€/m² or 6€ / kg material costs with epoxy and vacuum infusion, excluding labour, mold and consumables. Probably less if you buy in bulk.

This is mostly due to the design and requirements, a proa with unstayed masts can be much cheaper than a sailing catamaran. An affordable and lightweight power catamaran build like this without accommodations in the hulls and a simple condomaran bridgedeck could be interesting. But probably not your market.

 

politely, a powercat doesn't apply, just cabling two engines for me is thousands of dollars, thousands more for hydraulics, thousands more if you want a/p...and then you find out you need more cables and its a few more grand

the problem one encounters when building a one off is you have no bargaining or volume purchase power

 

Looking at the original few posts. It's been close to 10 year since I priced it out, but every company capable of making a mold had a pretty solid grasp on price per square foot of mold. They varied from single use to full production, hand layup to infusion, and different levels of surface finish. Seems like they would be capable of giving you much better local estimations of costs for a base hull.

Aside from a base hull there are so many different variables it's not worth even guessing.

2 virtually identical boats were built recently for two brothers. Both had identical hulls, cabins, deck gear, arrangement, and basic equipment. The only difference were the electronics, upholstery, main and wood species of trim. One fit out in the upper 400k, the other broke 750..... just on electronics, stidd chairs, and a man engine.

 

I'm just curious about the "printing" of such a mould, is that really being done, and what material is used ?

 

Me as well. Also want to know print costs.