looking for boat steel sail boat designes

hey people ! my names matt and im a boilermaker by trade and ive been around boats most my life and now its time I build my own so im ideally after advice where to start with designs etc im not sure what type of boat would suit my needs as all the people that would normally give me advise have passed away. I live in Australia and im after ideas for a boat that I can travel around the world in with accommodation four upto four in comfort with plenty of storage etc I would like to build the boat from scratch so any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated

thanks people

 

Power or sail?

 

sail around the 37 42 ft

 

I know Michael Kasten sells plans for various steel hull sailboats/yachts. He often sells the NC code to cut plates as well (huge time saver).

http://www.kastenmarine.com/plans_list.htm

I prefer sloops myself. The Bruce Roberts 39 is a nice looking boat too.

http://www.bruceroberts.com/public/HTML/descriptions/Roberts39_description.htm

Good luck!

 

thanks mate ill look into it now cheers

 

also try
www.simpsonmarinedesign.com
there is a 40' cutter, 42' cutter, 43' ketch
If all persons are adults, 37' might be a bit cozy. It's a good idea to talk with some experienced offshore people so you make the best choice.

 

Try it first. Buy a use boat, fix it and go. If you like it (travel around the world with a sailboat) you will not have the time to built one.

 

You've got that right WecBoat...usually saves a lot of time and cost to buy one. If I were a welder I would buy one that may need some minor welding (to pacify my welding urge!), polish it off and hit the waves.

FYI Yachtworld.com is a good sight with a lot of steel hulled sailboats for sale in the 37 to 42ft range. Various prices.

 

PDW on this site is building a Tom Colvin design. It is a single chine, junk rigged 34 footer. A big engine and a cheap sail plan is a good philosophy.

After a few years building (nearly completed), he keeps telling me he should have built the higher capacity DOXY design. His other favorite quote to people who ask which boat to build is "None".

I finally found Toms website
http://www.thomasecolvin.com/

Blowed if I can find any mention of the Doxy though. That is one sparse website.

 

Tom is old and not in good health. I got an email from him the other day.

I still say that if you want to go sailing now, buy a boat and go. I wanted to build a boat, so different motivation. What I do with it is yet to be determined as it's still in the shed. I'm quite happy with it so far. It's a Saugeen Witch design stretched to 38' so same beam but more hull length and bigger sail plan.

Tom's designs are straightforward to build but take time. There are a lot of them out there, especially GAZELLE hulls.

In the OP's position I'd look very closely at buying this one.

http://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/42-thomas-colvin-schooner/144181

This one has a more 'conventional' rig but is way overpriced.

http://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for...s/thomas-colvin-gazelle-42-steel-ketch/111473

There is a really cheap one for sale at $20,000 but I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

Fact is, there are *heaps* of steel sailboats listed on yachthub all for prices far less than you can possibly build one yourself, so unless you really, really want to build a boat - don't. Get out the check book and go looking.

If you want to ask about mine, send me a private message. I can't be bothered posting much and I have no web site, blog etc.

PDW

 

That's a good one Mr P. I can see a lot of what yours is becoming like. He's done a nice job on the head, and the dodger.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys . I only work six months off the year so I have plenty of time on my hands hence why I would prefer to build plus I'll learn more about the boat if you know what I mean. I've been searching to buy plans but I can't find a good or shall I say trusted web site. Does anyone know of any australian company's I can contact to help with designs and advice on what would suit me ? Once again I thank you for your reply

 

Just as a matter of interest, how long do you think it's going to take you to build a 12m sailboat in steel? Because I don't think you know what you're in for and I'd like to hear what you think before I spend any time writing replies. I've been down this road before and if I want to waste my time, I have other ways of doing it.

First bit of advice and you ignore it at your peril: list concisely just what you want to do with your boat, how many people you plan on carrying, what level of (dis)comfort you can tolerate, ditto for your crew *especially* if you're sleeping with one or more of them.

Where do you want to go?

Very important - how deep are your pockets?

Building a boat is dead simple really, All you need is time, space, money, a modicum of skill and a hell of a lot of patience & persistence. But you need ALL of them for 5 years or more.

PDW

 

Pdwiley: I have build boats before as I worked in the ship yards in perth for over three years. Am I serious ? Yes I'm very serious. How long will it take you ask ? Well considering I work six months of the year and that I'm a qualified boilermaker coded welder I believe in up to the task. As for my financial situation I'm single own my own house I have no debt nor other comitments and being as qualified as I am I believe I can save big bucks on the construction and spend thus savings else where on the boat. Where do I want to go ? Asia uk usa travel with out time frame really I just want a universal vessel within reason

 

As I said, it takes time, space, money, skill and persistence.

I too am (was) a certified welder. I'm pretty much retired so my time is my own. It's still slow.

Believe it or not the hull is the cheap and easy part. Mine used 14 sheets of 4mm thick plate 3000 x 1800 plus a lot of flat bar and pipe. Couple sheets of 6mm plate. Some stainless for rails, trim etc. Even with having it all professionally blasted & primed before I started welding, still less than $20K in hull materials. Then there's the fitout, the engine, the prop, the fuel & water tanks, the holding tank, the plumbing & wiring, how much electronic crap do you need (want), what sort of rig and what expenses/dependencies *that* choice brings with it.

Fitout is a PITA. Trust me, it is a PITA. Nothing is at right angles, often it isn't straight, no 2 pieces are the same size etc etc. It all eats time. I like working with wood, nice change from running an angle grinder for hours, but *unlike* welding steel, getting it wrong, re-welding it and grinding it back - a butchered wood joint fitup is there & visible forever unless you paint over it.

If you can get a 12m boat built and sailing within 5 years elapsed time, working alone, 6 months of the year, you will be doing very well.

I'm not trying to discourage you, knowing what I know now I'd likely still build my own boat. I like building stuff, I've built 3 houses in the past. But if you're not mentally prepared for a 5+ year project, you're going to fail.

I built a big shed first so everything was undercover and I didn't have to pack my tools up at the end of every day. The shed is 15m from my house as I'm on 3 acres of land. This alone has made building immeasurably easier and more pleasant.

What's your boat building library like?

If you want a modern steel design, Van Der Stadt is good. Locally Joe Adams did some lovely designs, he's dead now so I don't know how one can get plans etc. Mike Kasten has already been mentioned, Tom Colvin did a lot of steel designs and one of his was my choice. Personally I'd steer clear of the Roberts boats, some have good reputations, others not. The Offshore 38 is supposed to be good.

As I said, write down your list of goals - known here as a statement of requirements. You've already listed some - blue water sailing. To me that means a sea-kindly hull form with sufficient cargo capacity for at least 40 days fuel, water, stores and personal effects for the expected number of crew. For 4 people, probably 12m minimum LOD. 15m would be a *lot* better, add 50% to the cost & build time.

Friends of mine just launched their 12m carvel hulled cutter rigged boat. Their rig alone cost them more, much more, than my rig *and* engine and I still have over $10,000 in reserve to buy diesel before I get to their sunk cost in their rig. OTOH they will sail faster and point higher under sail than my hull will do. You need to think of what *your* tradeoffs are. As usual, higher performance equals more money.....

PDW