Cheapest 2 person sailing boat

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by DriesLaas, Mar 12, 2014.

  1. DriesLaas
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    Location: South Africa

    DriesLaas Weekend Warrior

    I would like to know which candidates exist for the title of cheapest 2 person sailing boat.

    I would like something with a bit of shape and "go" to it.
    The reason: I might have a lot of appreciation for the simplicity and advantages of small square bathtubs, but my potential co-conspirators are a highly opinionated bunch of engineers who will simply laugh their heads off if I should suggest this.

    The design goal ( and I don't have the time nor inclination to get involved in a long winded discussion to specify the "rules" to the n'th degree) is a boat of which we can quickly build four or five of, to sail against one another and together, single handed and with two up.

    I suspect the most important cost to control will be the rig, which should probably be an aluminium pole.
    Galvanised steel wire for standing rigging (as in Paper Jet by Dix) if RM requires it, prefer free standing.
    Don't know about polytarp sails, happy to consider it seriously.
    Have access to CNC router, so complexity of parts could be relatively high.
    Should also be able to mill the foils fairly quickly.

    What did I leave out:

    Marine ply price locally (converted to US Dollar):
    6mm $23.00
    9mm $31.00
    12mm $40.00

    Commercial grade ply (should be OK to use)
    6mm $16.00
    9mm $18.00
    12mm $23.00

    Epoxy resin per mixed kilo is somewhere in the region of $13-00 (Ampreg 21 with slow hardener) and glass is somewher in the ball park of $4-00 per kilo for the heavier stuff and double that for nice light fabrics.

    An aluminium pole (6m length) of OD63 x 3mm wall costs $72.

    Deckgear is expensive, but we have a fantastic supply of locally made deckgear which is really well priced and is good enough quality (BG to the saffers)

    So a (very optimistic)quick calc says:
    6 sheets of ply $96
    resin for priming 5 kg $65
    glass 25 sq metres, 400 g/sqm $40
    resin for laminating 10kg $130
    mast , boom, sprit 2 lenghts $144
    For a total of $475

    I would like to think I could finish up and get it sailing for another $150, never counting labour cost.

    Sum total: $625
     
  2. Waterwitch
    Joined: Oct 2012
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    Location: North East USA

    Waterwitch Senior Member

    Seems to me I spent 600 dollars a few years ago to build a hollow wooden paddleboard.
     
  3. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    Location: Lakeland Fl USA

    messabout Senior Member

    Take a look at the Goat Island Skiff (GIF). It is simple to build, performs very well and would not be an expensive build. It will plane in a moderate breeze, and it can be sailed one up or two up. The simplicity of the GIF might mislead engineering types. If so that will be because they have not sailed one of those simple boats.
     
  4. upchurchmr
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    Location: Ft. Worth, Tx, USA

    upchurchmr Senior Member

    Buy a used fiberglass sailboat.
    No sailboat is very cheap.

    Messabout - honestly - how much for the GIF in materials?

    I built an 18' strip planked Biadarka kayak for $1500 2 years ago. It only weighed 45#. That did not include the paddle, roof rack, PDF, tie downs.

    You might look at gentrycustomboats.com he has a SOF sail boat or two.
     
  5. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    The "Cheapest 2 person sailing boat" is typically stolen . . .
     
  6. philSweet
    Joined: May 2008
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    Location: Beaufort, SC and H'ville, NC

    philSweet Senior Member

    . . . but a whole fleet of them begin to be conspicuous.
     
  7. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Naaaaa, just change the sail numbers and you're good to go . . .
     
  8. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member

    Some other things to think about. You need to paint the hulls, and it can cost nearly the same amount again for a good paint job. By the time you seal, sand, doublecoat inside and out you are looking at a big slice.

    Also, you can make a lot of deck fittings simply, using wood and epoxy if you get really stretched, down to rudder 'joints' and 'chain' plates,

    You talk about carving foils sections for the rudder and daggerboard - for boats with PolyTarp sails ? Bit of a mixture of design requirements. Zero lift from sails is worse for pointing than a carefully shaped daggerboard.

    There are at least 2 'cheap hardware store yacht' threads still active on this forum.
     
  9. DriesLaas
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    Location: South Africa

    DriesLaas Weekend Warrior

    Theft was considered as a viable option, but we want to sail a one-design class, so we would be forced into stealing a whole lot of the same class boats, the logistics of which proved problematic.......
    At the moment discussions around corrugated plastic hulls with lateen rigs are happening, we will see where that goes.
    Rwatson, I agree carved foils on boats with polytarp sails would be silly, I just said it could be done. The router time is free, so I might get bloody-minded about it.
    I do like the GIS, but I think it is more expensive to build than we want it to be.
    I am trying to get my head around this, and I suppose I should restate the goal as: the VERY CHEAPEST boat one could build, that will perform adequately and last at least a few seasons.
     
  10. DriesLaas
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    Location: South Africa

    DriesLaas Weekend Warrior

    Big surprise:
    After quite unintentionally introducing the PD Racer into a conversation, the braintrust has started building up some enthusiasm.
    We might soon be hosting the next world champs in Richards Bay, if things carry on like this.
    Seriously, the chances are good that we might decide on the PD Racer as a candidate boat, as it seems to tick all the boxes.
    Except for the fact that, even though I am a disciple, one has to admit it is a face only a mother can love.

    So the last question is: Does a boat like the PD Racer exist, but that is pretty to look at?

    If not, PuddleDucks we will build.
     
  11. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    You can look at the variations put out by a number of different designers. I would say there are 6 or so different ones. Some are better looking than the original, while some are tuned for performance and some have a bit of both. Duckworks has at least 3 different versions. The beauty of the PD is that only the bottom 7" of the hull has to conform to the rules to be class legal. Above that, anything goes.
     
  12. hoytedow
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    $23 for 6mm? Who is your source? 6mm cost me $43 a sheet last year.
     
  13. DriesLaas
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    Location: South Africa

    DriesLaas Weekend Warrior

    Hi Hoyt,
    Sorry, I made a mistake with the exchange rate, it is closer to $21 ;-)

    This plywood comes from Singapore as far as I know, it is good quality Lauan and conforms to BS1088. Density normally in the region of 600 kg/cu metre.

    I could be building from commercial grade exterior ply, at $16 per sheet, and that would be completely appropriate for the kind of boat we are doing here.
     
  14. DriesLaas
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    Location: South Africa

    DriesLaas Weekend Warrior

    Steve, Thanks for the input.
    We will look carefully at the subtle differences. I did do a stock standard PD a while ago, and generated a full 3-d model, and CNC nests, which we cut.
    They worked pretty well, I will tweak some stuff here and there before doing it again. The router sure makes life easier when you do this kind of boatbuilding.
     

  15. GTO
    Joined: Jul 2007
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    Location: Alabama

    GTO Senior Member

    Have you considered the Payson-Bolger Windsprint?
    It's designed as a 4 sheet boat.
    I rigged mine as sloop and changed the dagger board to a leeboard.

    It sailed well with 3 aboard (~550 lbs.) on a local lake. We had smaller thunderstorm cells all around the lake providing the drive, which was quite a bit. I was worried about losing the top of the mast.

    Much prettier than a PD racer, in my opinion.

    Windsprint
     
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