Non-professionals who have designed and built their own small boats

[Alan H]

While I bet we'd all love to hear from you if you designed and built your own 35 foot cruiser, let's keep this thread to smaller boats....say <20 feet. If you evolved into a "professional" designer or builder, but this was your first shot at it, please chime in! If you're decidedly an "amateur" and have stayed that way, then that's excellent.

I'd just love to see and hear from people who have designed their own small boats and then gone ahead and built them. Anything you can write about the process is great. Of course, pictures are golden!

[thedutchtouch]

i designed my own boat, it's a simple punt/skiff, 13 foot LOA, works fine, just built it with crap materials and stored it outside over winter so its got some rot but still fully functional. was a good learning experience, i suggest looking at a lot of plans and making a cardboard/cardstock model (or use balsa if youre not as cheap as i am) to make sure it's the right shape etc., then go for it. mine cost about 300 bucks to build so wasnt that big of an investment, therefore i didn't care much if it was a piece of junk, it was fun. warning: you WILL be itching to build/design another, perhaps even before you finish the first one.

[W Grabow]

My wife kids me because I spend more time designing and building boats than using them. Intellectually, what I enjoy is the creative process. Dreams become plans when you fill in the details (this applies to all of life.). A new boat starts as a concept or vision in my mind. We move to a new place, and I consider the boating conditions and what I would like to be able to do on those waters. Then I fill out the details until a boat design results. First comes a displacement estimate, then length and beam. All the particulars follow from considerations including time schedule, weather, transport, storage, materials available & budget, building space, as well as planned usage. I have been in the military with a fair number of family moves; I built a boat in Nebraska, Panama, Alabama, Virginia, New York, and now two in Colorado. Three have had sails, three have had oars, and the latest is a planing power boat. Lengths have been between 14' and 20.5'. Having a good shop/building area is very important, which I rarely had until now. Can you believe that I finished my latest boat this spring, have used it four times, am extremely pleased with how it performs, and am already working on plans for the next boat? We just came back from a wooden boat show tonight; I was pleased by the compliments my boat received; but I know I can improve on this design. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and my senior research project was in hull design (many years ago) so I had some background to build on.

developable-surface-boat-designs.blogspot.com

[Lewisboater]

I've designed and built upwards of a dozen boats...mostly box boats, a couple of skiffs. One was an utter failure, the rest have attained various levels of success. I have put the plans up on the 'net' for free and some have been built by others. Chugger is a success in my opinion...12-15 have been built or are under construction as of now (to my knowledge). On the other hand I claim limited success for a single iteration of Guideboat15...the builder did not let me know he was over 300 lbs and it wouldn't plane properly with him and his 200 lb wife and the recommended motor. Another so-so design was PodYak...the builder installed a bulkhead too close to the cockpit and couldn't get his legs in...not my fault but still the only known one and it isn't a success in my book. There are a dozen or more of the lilJons out there but that is a pretty generic square boat with a curved at the bow. DuckSkiff has a few that have been built, and a couple of row boats and a sailing skiff in Australia. I am currently working on more complicated designs...when I can avoid the hard drive crashes that wipe everything out.

[Eddiebou]

I'd describe it almost like being possessed. You just can't help it. I think of myself as a reluctant boatbuilder. Reluctant in the sense that I always admired the finished/ working boat, but working in cramped positions, breathing nasty vapors, sanding and sanding and sanding, or being around rotten bilgewater, slime, or anything to do with fiberglass, never really appealed to me.
However, I realized a long time ago, that since I don't have a lot af money, I was going to have to learn to build the things that I want.
Although I had owned boats and worked proffessionally on others (just a payin' job, cause I was there), I finished building my first boat 3 yrs ago; A 14' plywood and fiberglass skiff.
That was fine for about 3 months, then I couldn't control myself, I had to build another, then another, on and on....Now I have more boats than I can use, their maintenance is a full time job, yet I'm still building another one and can think of at least 2 more that I would like to have.
I'm not so much a designer as a slavish copyer. I know what I like when I see it. I've changed things slightly to satisfy my own tastes, built my own forms and used them to turn out boats that looked pretty much just like what I was trying to copy. And you can, too.
Build a scale model of your idea, every piece to scale. It will help you immensely.
Is there such a thing as "Boatbuilder's Annonymous"? "My name is Eddiebou, and I'm a boatbuilder." The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem.

[kenjamin]

Built this little skiff after reading "Instant Boats" by Dynamite Payson. Fished out of her for over twenty years. Sold her back in 2006 but as far as I know she's still going strong.

Also still in the process of building a little dory catamaran of my own design. The model was built over twenty-seven years ago. Don't want to rush into these things you know.

[David G]

I designed and built my own boat - when I was about 10.

It was a log raft. Constructed of logs scavenged from the shores of Young's Bay - near the mouth of the Columbia river. Lashed together with beach finds of rope, chain, inner tube strips, and even some vines. There were a couple of log-raft staples that the blacksmith donated. Oh... and some mono-filament and a scrap of gillnet that we cut into strips. I had a crew of willing helpers, and we got a lot of use out of that beast - swimming and fishing off of her and poling her around to explore the bay. Then she disappeared overnight (probably a high tide took her).

Anything more complicated - I'm happy to leave to the experts. For now, anyway.

[nessboat]

[Alan H]

Built this little skiff after reading "Instant Boats" by Dynamite Payson. Fished out of her for over twenty years. Sold her back in 2006 but as far as I know she's still going strong.

Well, now....I think she's quite handsome, and that mast is just nifty.

[Hwyl]

Great thread, there is of course another category because a lot of designers in that size range struggle to make a living and often have a "day job". Albert Strange was a doctor. Dick Newick supplemented his income by fixing up houses. I think John Welsford has a day job

[Yeadon]

johnw ... he designed and built this 17'8 sharpie skiff. The rig was swiped from a Snipe.

[Erik le Rouge]

Gavin Atkin
His web pages : http://home.clara.net/gmatkin/design.htm , http://intheboatshed.net/
His designs : http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/gavin/index.htm
The ''TROW'' design built and tested on this very nice site : http://theinvisibleworkshop.blogspot.com/

[Rob540]

I'd describe it almost like being possessed. You just can't help it. I think of myself as a reluctant boatbuilder. Reluctant in the sense that I always admired the finished/ working boat, but working in cramped positions, breathing nasty vapors, sanding and sanding and sanding, or being around rotten bilgewater, slime, or anything to do with fiberglass, never really appealed to me.
However, I realized a long time ago, that since I don't have a lot af money, I was going to have to learn to build the things that I want.
Although I had owned boats and worked proffessionally on others (just a payin' job, cause I was there), I finished building my first boat 3 yrs ago; A 14' plywood and fiberglass skiff.
That was fine for about 3 months, then I couldn't control myself, I had to build another, then another, on and on....Now I have more boats than I can use, their maintenance is a full time job, yet I'm still building another one and can think of at least 2 more that I would like to have.
I'm not so much a designer as a slavish copyer. I know what I like when I see it. I've changed things slightly to satisfy my own tastes, built my own forms and used them to turn out boats that looked pretty much just like what I was trying to copy. And you can, too.
Build a scale model of your idea, every piece to scale. It will help you immensely.
Is there such a thing as "Boatbuilder's Annonymous"? "My name is Eddiebou, and I'm a boatbuilder." The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem.

I hear you Eddiebou....http://middlething.blogspot.com/2011...ot-making.html

[Eddiebou]

Rob540,
So we share an addiction. Cheers!

[TerryLL]

Designing your own boat is a great exercise. It makes you appreciate the few folks who manage to do it well. I've designed dozens over the years, and fortunately had the good sense to pitch every last one into the trash.

[Daniel Noyes]

When I was around 12 I built a series of small skin (tyvek house wrap) on frame (2x4's and strapping) kayaks and a little sharpie, around the age of 14 I saw a photo of Puffin launched by the Aprentice shop at Rockland, I marched out into the back yard ripped the tyvek off the sharpie and spread the sheer frames out to over 4' wide while keeping the bottom narrow, I then planked the frames with my fathers help in luan ply and glassed it, that was the design process for "bagger"... I have'nt thrown her out going on 20 yrs.

[Tony_C]

My first ever build is my own design - the fun of it outweighs the risks for me.

I had some good feedback on this forum on the lines:
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...-review-please

And I'm well into the build now:
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...nghy-1.0-Build

Build is working out well with the strakes fitting perfectly - 'puter says yeeees.
Proof will be on the water of course.

[bwlakewpg]

Here's proof that anyone can design and build a boat: I designed an approx. 12 ft. "canoe" that my dad and I built (out of 2 sheets of plywood) in 4 hours in the Quick and Daring event at Seafest in Prince Rupert, BC. It even floated and saw us safely through two races in harbour the following day.

[nessboat]

Hi all and...help!! Been trying to upload a pic of my home designed and built boat but to no avail. I opened an account on FLICKR and successfully loaded a few pics .The URL I see when trying to share the link appears to be incomplete...it ends with a / .any ideas what I,m doing wrong??

Harry

[Tony_C]

Here's a ripper by my 4 year old out of the offcuts:



Sea trials:

[Alan H]

Hi all and...help!! Been trying to upload a pic of my home designed and built boat but to no avail. I opened an account on FLICKR and successfully loaded a few pics .The URL I see when trying to share the link appears to be incomplete...it ends with a / .any ideas what I,m doing wrong??

Harry

right click on the picture itself and see if you can figure out the actual picture URL.

[TerryLL]

Hi all and...help!! Been trying to upload a pic of my home designed and built boat but to no avail. I opened an account on FLICKR and successfully loaded a few pics .The URL I see when trying to share the link appears to be incomplete...it ends with a / .any ideas what I,m doing wrong??

Harry

Open the image in FLIKR, then right click on the image, and selct "Copy Image Location". Return to the forum, click on the Insert Image icon, select the "From URL" tab, paste your URL into the URL window, and uncheck the "Retrieve Remote File" box.

[Daniel Noyes]

Here's a ripper by my 4 year old out of the offcuts:

]

awsome, rigid wing sail and everything

[JimConlin]

I've been sailing for 60+ years, owned a boat for most of 'em, built a fair few and invested a fair bit of time in studying the art and engineering of boat design, including a good fraction of the Westlawn course. It's odd, but the more I study the art and science of boats, the more I feel I have yet to learn. I have designed a number of boats, but I have not yet the confidence or hubris to build one of those designs.

[Tony_C]

Had to look that up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubris:

Hubris ( /ˈhjuːbrɪs/), also hybris, means extreme haughtiness, pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities

I reckon that's exactly what's required. Go, go, go!

[wizbang 13]

This is how Wizbang started. Thing about a "hydro thingy", only the aft 12" is in the water at speed, so it is easy to "design".
I defer designing sailing vessels, that I have built, , to the pros.

[Alan H]

I've been sailing for 60+ years, owned a boat for most of 'em, built a fair few and invested a fair bit of time in studying the art and engineering of boat design, including a good fraction of the Westlawn course. It's odd, but the more I study the art and science of boats, the more I feel I have yet to learn. I have designed a number of boats, but I have not yet the confidence or hubris to build one of those designs.

Seriously? Honestly, do you feel that it's self-confident arrogance to the point of being disconnected with reality to dare to build a boat that you designed, rather than building a boat designed by someone else?

[Alan H]

Hey, some guys just gotta build boats designed by "big names". That's fine, no problem. Different strokes and all that.

I'm just really glad that my brain doesn't work that way. I've got nothing against the Big Names, just.....I'm glad that I have enough confidence to dare to trust my own abilities, and significant confidence in my judgement to understand what challenges are appropriate for those abilities and what tasks are beyond them.

[arcadiainc]

In the early 1970's I was a student at the U of S Florida in Tampa. Just had to have a boat. I designed a 12 ft flat bottom fishing skiff. She was very much a success. My Dad gave me a very well used 18 HP Johnson for power. She would run about 26 mph. Anything over a four inch ripple would rattle your teeth. Got a new 20 HP Johnson for graduation. Speed increased to 32 mph. Loved that boat. She saw plenty of use in fresh and salt water. She was a big part of my life for about five years.

[jimkeen]

I've been sailing for 60+ years, owned a boat for most of 'em, built a fair few and invested a fair bit of time in studying the art and engineering of boat design, including a good fraction of the Westlawn course. It's odd, but the more I study the art and science of boats, the more I feel I have yet to learn. I have designed a number of boats, but I have not yet the confidence or hubris to build one of those designs.

I share Jims lack of hubris. I am not going to put myself and my family in a boat of questionable origin, I have built 10 boats all from proven plans with mostly good results. I have a sense of security that first someone else has been here and done this and second someone with a lot more practical knowledge has put the design to paper.
At some point I may model my own design, but for now my money and my family are going with proven designs from proper naval architects

[slidercat]

If you want a boat of a type that really doesn't exist, and you can't afford to commission a real designer to draw it, you don't have much choice but to draw it yourself.



The worst possible outcome is that it turns out to be a great boat. Because then you're hooked.

[mizzenman]

Here is my latest, nonpareil skiff I guess you could call her.

[davebrown]

Really like the nonpareil (sp?) skiff. I have carved a half hull for a double paddle canoe in the style of Culler's Butternut. It's been done a million times. But so lovely! I hope I get around to finishing it someday, full size.

[JimConlin]

I have several shelf-feet of boat design books, have some decades' experience in a variety of boats, have spent considerable time in museums' plans departments and collection sheds, and have not yet convinced myself that I can design a better pram than LFH, a better trimaran than Dick Newick or a better pulling boat than Ken Bassett. I might try, but I'm not there yet.

The worst that can happen is not that you end up with a better boat. The worst is that you end up with an unsafe boat that kills someone, an unsound boat that disintegrates before your eyes or simply an unsaleable dog that would make a better geranium planter.

I think there's a better chance for success in studying carefully the work of the masters and judiciously adapting their designs to your use, materials and skills. These are manageable engineering problems with much higher probability of success. There's much less adventure in doing boats that are 'derivative' of prior designs, but I don't think very many of us have the engineering knowledge, intuition or talent to do something that's both original and functional.

[slidercat]

I There's much less adventure in doing boats that are 'derivative' of prior designs, but I don't think very many of us have the engineering knowledge, intuition or talent to do something that's both original and functional.

You're right, Jim, and much the same can be said of the work of professionals. The best designs are evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. The only really unique thing about Slider is her in-hull seating (unique in a boat of this size, anyway) and everything else was drawn in accordance with accepted practices, because I was more interested in having a boat that worked than a revolution. There are lots of other dory-hulled cats, and even her rig, while unusual, is not unique. Wharram drew a cat with a sprit-sloop rig 40 years ago.

All that said, I can't see the fun in designing a boat that is_only_ derivative of a proven design. If you're not bringing in some element that's different from what's been done before, what's the point? If I wanted a Newick-like trimaran, I'd buy plans from Newick, because he will do a much better job of it than I could.

My current project is a folding cat, with hulls similar in concept to Slider's, but larger. The idea is to compete with the trailerable small cruising trimarans, because I think cats are better cruisers. There are relatively few folding cats in that 23-24 foot range. The best ones I've seen are Richard Woods' pod cats, in which the hulls fold under the central pod--strong, simple, and light. But that approach is not ideal for my personal circumstances. I have available for my use a slip that is only 10 feet wide. I'm attempting a design that allows the boat to fold without taking down the rig, and which allows the hulls to remain upright, and is quick and simple enough that going for a sail from folded is not a major production. Also, I really like a cat with an open center deck, and accommodations in the hulls. Thomas Firth Jones designed a 23 footer like that in Brine Shrimp, but again, it can't be folded with the rig up, and the hulls have to tilt, so it's impractical for keeping folded in a slip.

I'm pretty sure that the end result will not sail as well as Richard's boats do, but it will have an advantage over them, for my use. If it sails as well as Slider does, I'll be happy.