First small sail boat for children

[Cape Breton Builder]

Hello

I have 2 little girls, aged 3 and 4, and want to introduce them to sailing. We will spend time this summer on our small sail boat and in our strip canoe (once finished).
I want to build each girls their own boat, maybe one for next summer and one the following summer.

* Boat needs to hold an adult and child, later just one child. They will then be able to race each other.
* Needs to be in expensive and light. We are on a bay and a can walk to the beach from our house.
* I am OK with ply or timber construction
* Building time needs to be reasonable over a cold winter

Thanks for any ideas

Andrew

[Breakaway]

I built a Summerbreeze skiff in about 45 hours--no paint. I am just finishing up on the sailing bits and that has added some 30 more hours. I have an additional 15 hours in paint and haven't yet coated the spars, rudder, mast partner, mast step, or board. This is a simple, basic skiff, built screw and glue plywood, with plans free off the internet.Could be done in a winter of part time. Took me 2 winters basically because I have kids and THEY take time.

My girls are 5 and 7. As a rowboat, it works fine solo; with me and one kid; or me and two kids. Or two adults. I need to make longer oars; the 6-1/2 footers are a tad short. I have not sailed it yet.

Kevin

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

This
http://www.bateau.com/freeplans.php
7' 10" dinghy would make a good sailboat for kids because it has seat-box assemblies that can be glued up tight to guarantee floatation. It's vee-bottomed for sailing in a chop and can be built fairly light if you use okoume.
There is a newer version, the D5, whose plans are layed out better which goes for $35.
I'd show you a picture of it in action but the gallery where it's posted is down at the moment.
If you want a sailing pram with elbow room look at the PK78. It's a full 56 inches wide.

[gstanfield]

I'd go for the PK78 from bateau. I have the D4 plans along with the PK78 and it's well worth the $35 for the PK78 plans. They are very detailed with a couple of sail options and the extra beam will be nice when there are two of you in the little guy! The D4 is a good plan too, but I like the extra room provided by the PK78.

[sailnstink]

A pair of tortoises. Cheap, easy, put em together with nails and titebond III, no worries with the kids helping. Fails on aesthetics if that is an issue.

[dredbob]

Hello

I have 2 little girls, aged 3 and 4, and want to introduce them to sailing. We will spend time this summer on our small sail boat and in our strip canoe (once finished).
I want to build each girls their own boat, maybe one for next summer and one the following summer.

* Boat needs to hold an adult and child, later just one child. They will then be able to race each other.
* Needs to be in expensive and light. We are on a bay and a can walk to the beach from our house.
* I am OK with ply or timber construction
* Building time needs to be reasonable over a cold winter

Thanks for any ideas

Andrew

If you haven't yet started them off in some form of paddlecraft, then a pair of skin-on-frame or simple stitch-and-glue kayaks (with larger open cockpits so that they can also be fitted to row) would be my first step (build one for you too so you can supervise). When they can handle these boats and have learned some boatmanship skills, then introduce them to sailing their own boats. Over a hundred thousand kids have learned to sail the Optimist pram, so that or some similar (El Toro, etc) ~8 foot pram dinghy seems like it would be a good option. And since there are a whole bunch of prams in this range, with many, many free plans available in books and online. Find one you like and go for it. Even if you don't go for the Optimist (and the Official Racing ones are no longer affordable or home buildable, but there are the original Clark Mills plans floating around out there) , Optimist sails and parts are cheap, widely available, and most importantly, sized for children, not adults.

Bob

[Thorne]

As above I'd recommend one of the common one-class designs - sails and hardware will be MUCH easier & cheaper to get, particularly if you pick up some used gear to get them going and move on to new stuff if they decide to start racing. One-off or unusual designs are a huge hassle to try to race, as handicapping is difficult and racers often 'punished' for showing up in odd or highly-modified designs.

[Daniel Noyes]

Chamberlain Dory Skiff!

Dory skiff will provide fun and impressive performance for decades if not generations, The dory skiff is small enough to be handled alone by a child of 10+- yrs. but large enough to carry three adults sailing. It is also an excelent rowing skiff.