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15 Free Boat Plans You Can Build This Week (with PDFs)

Boatbuilding is one of the most ancient forms of craftsmanship still alive today. As long as our ancestors have had a curiosity about exploring open waters, they have been practicing and honing their boatbuilding skills.

To be honest, however, building a boat is no small task. It will require a lot of work and patience to ultimately create a finished product that you are happy with and that is actually seaworthy.

Of course, we have also included a few free boat plans. You can keep in your back pocket for the next time you are asked to build a cardboard boat as part of a contest or lakefront teambuilding adventure.

We hope that these resources help you in your journey to build your own boat!

Photo by SeventyFour via Shutterstock

Free Boat Plans

Why build your own boat, 1. the wanigan, 2. the mouse, 3. the slipper, 4. the handy andy, 5. the junior, 6. the jolly roger, 7. the cork, 8. the hobby kat, 9. the tern, 10. the falcon, 11. the white duck, 12. the sea midge, 13. the zephyr, 14. the gypsy, 15. the crazy cardboard boat, 15 free boat plans you can build this week (with pdfs) – final thoughts, share on pinterest.

• The Wanigan
• The Slipper

The Handy Andy

• The Jolly Roger
• The Hobby Kat

The White Duck

• The Sea Midge

The Crazy Cardboard Boat

Photo by Halsey via Shutterstock

There are a lot of reasons why you should explore building your own boat versus buying a pre-made model. Here is a quick breakdown of the most obvious benefits:

• You will know the ins and outs of your finished boat better than anyone
• It can be a great project to work on with your teenage or even adult children
• You will gain valuable skills molding and shaping wood and other materials
• You can design your boat for your specific needs
• You don’t have to trust the sometimes-questionable manufacturing of mass-produced boats
• You can create a boat that functions as your second home on the water
• You can save money if you source materials mindfully

Of course, most first-time boatbuilders still experience some level of trial-and-error. With patience and perseverance, however, you can craft a one-of-a-kind vessel that has no equal anywhere in the world.

Free Boat Plans You Can Build This Week (with PDFs)

PC Duckworks Boat Builders Supply

The Wanigan boat began as a garvey design, which is one of the older boat plans known to the Americas. Traditionally, these boats were built as work scows and were very popular among American summer camps.

The design itself is very simple, but these boats can carry heavy loads. It can also handle a trolling motor being mounted to the stern so you can cover more ground if you want to use it as a fishing boat.

The creator of this boat plan became aware of some of the downsides of the garvey design, such as the heavier weight that made it less efficient than some other designs. So he combined elements of dory and wanigan designs to create a hybrid.

The main changes include an enlarged beam, tilted lathes to provide a stiffer hull, and knocking off the top strakes to reduce the boat’s overall weight.

The Wanigan text

These additional The Wanigan drawings   may also prove useful for your build process!

The Mouse is one of the most compact and nimble boat plans we have found for this list. It is an easy build and also a great boat for two kids or a single teenage paddler.

The original builder began with a one-sheet boat design in an effort to create the lightest and most affordable boat possible. This means it is only suited for calm waters and should not be used in high winds or wavy conditions.

That said, it was built in roughly 12 to 24 hours of work time and doesn’t require a full workshop to construct. The main material that is required for building this boat is quarter-inch plywood. But the builder recommends using one-inch by half-inch pine or something a little sturdier.

The plywood and pine components are held together using a method called ”˜stitch and glue’. This method requires choosing one of the best glues for kayak outfitting , which are typically made of epoxy and glass tape rather than something cheaper like polyurethane.

The Mouse Instructions

Also, here are a few extra useful The Mouse Notes for builders

The Slipper is the first of many sailboat plans on our list and it is faster, easier, and cheaper to build than most. It also features a deeper cockpit than many other sailboat designs, which makes it safer for intermediate sailors.

This sailboat plan features dual steering stations so that you can sail from inside or outside of the helm. It also includes a centerboard trunk that hardly intrudes into the cabin at all. So that, it is easier to work around while you are in the cockpit.

The exterior hull and cabin of this sailboat feature a modified dory design using two sheets of plywood ripped to three feet wide before being joined together. The resulting hull is a modified V-shape that reduces drag.

The centerboard of this boat can also be winched up to the level of the top of the cabin or lowered down to alter the draft. This allows you to customize the boat design for a stiffer and more weather-worthy vessel if you need it.

The Slipper was also intentionally designed with an aft cabin that naturally helps to keep the bow pointed into the wind whether you are underway or the boat is anchored in the port.

The Building Slipper

PC DIY Wood Boat

The Handy Andy is a great little 10-foot portable rowboat for hunting, camping, fishing, and other recreational uses. It is actually the only folding boat design on our list, which makes it best for folks that need the most portable boat plan possible.

This boat features a 42-inch beam and a depth of about 15 inches at the mid-section. It also weighs roughly 80 pounds when assembled and can handle up to three average-sized human passengers.

The design boasts a flat bottom with canvas-bound edges and the primary material used for construction is ⅜-inch marine-grade plywood. Despite its lightweight nature, this rowboat can handle trolling motors or even outboard motors with a maximum of five horsepower.

Once finished, the hull can be folded or unfolded in less than a minute’s time.

This design makes it one of the only boats on this list that can be stored in a truck bed or easily carried by two people to be launched at more remote locations.

If you are looking for an all-purpose dinghy that can handle almost any use you might imagine, look no further than The Junior free boat plan. It can carry three or four average-sized adults and is much easier to row than a traditional dinghy.

It is also durable enough to be equipped with a small outboard motor. You could even set it up with sailing equipment if you want to use it as a sailing vessel. As we said, this is truly an all-around boat design!

This boat plan requires constructing three frames that will provide the majority of the load-bearing support. The builder recommends using ¾-inch framing with ⅜-inch plywood as the exterior material for this boat build.

Resin glue and flathead screws are also required to hold this boat together. But there is a full list of materials included in the plans we have linked to below. Sticking to that plan should also give you enough leftover materials to construct two six-foot oars for rowing this boat until you install a trolling motor or outboard motor down the line!

Channel your inner Captain Morgan when you are following these plans to build your very own Jolly Roger boat. This flat bottom boat design is designed for pond fishing . It can also be a useful yacht dinghy for getting from your dock to a larger vessel anchored offshore.

The plan follows conventional dinghy construction methods but also includes a few modifications that will save you time and energy. The wide design is super stable for boaters of all ages.

The keel, frame, chines, and risers are all cut from ¾-inch oak, ash, or any other trusted hardwood you can get your hands on. For the smaller components, the builder recommends using cedar, cypress, fir, or white or yellow pine.

Because this boat plan is also sturdy enough to handle a small motor, it includes important points for protecting the wooden hull from spark plug damage.

Be careful to follow these guidelines to build the safest boat possible if you imagine installing a motor down the line.

The Jollyroger

The Cork is another simple rowboat design. This one trends away from the flat bottom plans that we have included thus far. Instead, it features a deeper, V-shaped hull that makes it better suited to more efficient rowing and easier maneuverability.

It can be rowed easily from either seating position and is durable enough to handle up to three average-sized adult passengers. The ends of the boat are identical, which allows for multi-directional rowing.

The list of materials required for this boat plan should cost you between $30 and $50, depending on your location and hardware costs there. The resulting build is lightweight enough for two people to be carried and also to be transported on top of a vehicle .

Inside the boat, the builders use aluminum tubing to secure the struts that hold the seats. This material choice keeps the overall weight of the boat down while still adding the necessary rigidity across the beam of the boat.

The Hobie Cat is one of the most iconic and recognizable small sailing vessels ever made. This Hobby Kat plan is your answer to building your own iconic sailboat without spending thousands of dollars.

Your finished boat will be able to handle speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. It will be a super fun vessel for windy days on the lake or bay. The builder was able to construct the hulls, decking, and rudder for this boat while spending little more than $200.

From there, they purchased and installed the mast, boom, sail, and rigging, which brought the total amount spent to roughly $650 (still much less than a name-brand Hobie!). Without the mast and sail, this boat weighs roughly 165 pounds and is constructed using primarily 3/16-inch marine plywood.

You can also elect to build your own mast, boom, and sail if you have the time and skills to do so.

Those elements are not included in this boat plan, but they do offer some recommendations for where to buy these components!

The HobbyKat

Named after the common seabird found around the world, the Tern is a lightweight and nimble sailboat with a 72 square foot base design. She is made for inland sailing and planes very well in moderate breezes.

The hull design also provides minimal water resistance and the small floor plan makes this boat easier for intermediate sailors to handle. Even though it offers a small footprint, this boat is sturdy enough to handle up to four adult passengers.

One of the best things about this boat plan is that it can be built almost entirely by using only common hand tools.

Of course, you can speed things up if you have power tools and you are skilled enough to use them correctly.

The Tern boat plan includes a 20-foot mast, but you can shorten that length if you desire. The plan includes a complete list of materials and step-by-step instructions on how to plane and assemble each element.

As you might expect from its name alone, the Falcon is an incredibly speedy sailboat for its size. It boasts a 14-foot centerboard and can handle two to four passengers, depending on its size and weight.

In tests of the original build, the creators claim that this boat out-distanced many Snipe and Comet sailing vessels as well as pacing evenly alongside longer 18-foot sailboats. When finished, your boat will have a six-foot beam and a total weight of roughly 475 pounds.

For the main framing components, they recommend using white oak and plywood will be the main material used in the hull construction. The hull features a V-shaped that was inspired by larger schooners.

The Falcon is best suited to sailing on bays, lakes, and wide rivers. It is also a boat plan with just under 120 square feet of deck space and it is a great build for amateur craftsmen and sailors.

The White Duck is a flat-bottomed rowboat with a total length of 13’6” and a four-foot beam. The cockpit is approximately 15 inches deep all the way around and this boat can handle up to five passengers while maintaining buoyancy and stability.

When fully constructed, it will weigh roughly 200 pounds, but the final weight will depend on the type of lumber you choose for your build. This boat plan features plywood planking over solid wooden frames.

The White Duck is built with a pointed bow that cuts nicely through the water. The flat stern of this boat design will make it easy to attach a small outboard motor with a maximum of six horsepower.

As you might expect from its name, this rowboat is a great option for duck hunting trips. That being said, it is a highly versatile craft that can also be used for pond fishing or casual rowing on your nearby lake.

The Sea Midge is one of the smallest rowboats on our list and it is ideally suited for one average-sized rower or two small paddlers. It is only about 8 feet in length and offers a 52-inch beam at its widest point.

The Midge’s small dimensions make her ideal for navigating narrower creeks and streams. With an approximate weight of 62 pounds, she is easy to maneuver on the water and can also be much more easily transported than some of the larger boat plans on our list

The Seamidge

The Zephyr is a compact and speedy dinghy sailboat that measures roughly 14 feet long and approximately five feet across. This boat style was originally developed for safely crossing the English Channel. This means it can stand up well in rough waters.

When finished, it is also light enough to be transported on a small trailer or on top of a larger vehicle.

The boat plan calls for using hemlock or fir for the framing and oak or Douglas fir for the keel and chines.

The Gypsy is a small cruising sailboat that is meant to be equipped with an outboard motor for powered locomotion. The original design resulted in an incredibly seaworthy vessel that logged more than 6,000 nautical miles in her lifetime.

It includes a comfortable cabin that makes it well-suited for multi-day sailing adventures. This boat plan includes improvements on the original design that will help you build an extremely durable and long-lasting sailboat.

The Gypsy boat design will help you construct a vessel that can handle a motor up to 25 horsepower so that you can enjoy cruising speeds of up to nine miles per hour.

While it may require a bit more of an investment in time and money, it will also help you produce one of the best boats you can build with a free boat plan!

PC Saint Dominic Catholic School

Finally, let’s talk about a crazy cardboard boat plan that you can build in less than a day. This is a great boat plan to bookmark for your next teambuilding project so that you can earn bragging rights with your coworkers.

The plan calls for using 1.5 sheets of cardboard. But you can use the remaining half sheet to build your own boat paddle if you want to get creative.

Triple-thick cardboard is best for this boat plan. But you can always double up thinner sheets if that is all you can find.

These plans include an easy-to-follow diagram for marking, cutting, and folding the cardboard sheets to create the hull of your boat. From there, it calls for using contact cement and construction adhesive to seal the edges and corners.

If you are looking to save a little money on this build you could also use duct tape and then wrap the entire design in plastic sheeting to provide waterproof qualities.

Overall, this build is one of the cheapest and easiest on our list. It is also a great project for hot summer camp days on the lake or river!

Photo by Alexandra Soloviova via Shutterstock

We hope that you now have a couple of free boat plans to inspire you to begin your own construction project.

Don’t hesitate to check out YouTube for some useful boat-building videos when you are getting into the nitty-gritty of these build processes!

Enjoyed 15 Free Boat Plans You Can Build This Week (with PDFs)? Share it with your friends so they too can follow the Kayakhelp journey.

Peter Salisbury

Pete is the Owner of KayakHelp.com. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, he grew up kayaking, fishing, sailing, and partaking in outdoor adventures around the Great Lakes. When he’s not out on the water, you can find him skiing in the mountains, reading his favorite books, and spending time with his family.

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Build a small sailboat free plans.

These plans are for a small 15 foot knockabout sailboat.

I like these plans for their ease. Building a smaller boat is a lot more attainable than a cabin cruiser! And these plans get right to the specifics of building. From the plans:

ANY SAILBOAT fancier will like "Tramp," the trim, 15-ft. knockabout that's so easy to build in plywood. The first operation is to cut the stem, transom and side planks and assemble the forms.

Use casein or waterproof glue under the butt strap joining the side planks together. Forms can be made of almost any scrap material on hand. If you are a good enough mechanic, they can be dispensed with and correctly beveled frames made to their exact shape can be placed permanently in the boat. Screw-fasten the oak frame at sides and bottom on the inside of the transom. Then notch out the bottom of the frame to receive the keel batten...

The transom is placed last and must be beveled so that the side planks fit tightly against the cleats and the transom edge. Be sure to place white lead and a thin thread of cotton between planks and stem and transom prior to joining them together...

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Affordable Sailboats You Can Build at Home

Last Updated by

Daniel Wade

September 13, 2023

‍ Key Takeaways

• There are many sailboats that anyone can build from home depending on tastes
• Budget will be the biggest deciding factor on a majority of the process
• Consider kits that come with most of what you need or choose ones that are all-inclusive
• Design complexities and new materials may make the building time process longer
• Plan the best you can ahead of time to save money and your working hours

‍ Buying a sailboat can be expensive, but building your own can save you money. So what are sailboats you can build from home?

Sailboats that you can build from home will likely be a small boat under 20 feet. These could be from many different boat suppliers such as B&B Yachts, Brooks Boat Designs, and Chase Small Craft. Boat plans will vary based on your budget and how much time you have on your hands.

Based on my previous experience, building your own boat will take much longer than if a professional were to do it. You also have to be able to study plans, consider various sailboat designs, and have tons of supplies such as fiberglass tape or fiberglass cloth. On top of that, you will also have to be good with your hands.

Table of contents

‍ Top 10 Affordable Sailboats Anyone Can Build at Home

Building your own pocket cruiser or other styles from boat plans is an impressive feat, as this will need dedicated time and money to assure your boat sails safely. Boat building takes a lot of patience as well, especially since this will not be completed in a fast manner.

Finding boat plans and materials that fit your budget will be key to being able to complete the project. The time it takes to complete these projects will vary on your overall experience and needs. Below are 10 of the most affordable sailboats that you can build in the comfort of your home.

B&B Yachts

B&B Yachts have 14 different boat plans you can choose from to find the boat of your desires. Their shop is located along the Bay River in North Carolina where they construct all of the kits and have a 100 foot dock to show off your project once you complete it.

One popular model to check out is their Core Sound 15, as it is the perfect size for those wanting to build a modest size boat for a handful of people on board. Their website features some videos of completed projects and the plans or kits for purchase.

• 14 different models to choose from plus some dinghies
• Various monohull and multihull options
• Friendly customer service with attractive prices
• Might be too many options for some that are indecisive
• Not ideal for those wanting to have a motor sailer

Brooks Boat Designs

Brooks Boat Designs has a handful of options to consider for your next sailboat building project. They are located in Brookline, Maine and give the option to buy the kits or have them build one from scratch for you. They have plenty of knowledge, so do not be shy to ask about modifications or custom features you are looking for.

Depending on your specifics, they can attempt to accommodate some of their plans to help fit your desired outcome. By checking out their site, you can see many examples of their construction in progress and what the boats will look like when completed.

• Offers a variety of kits
• Plans vary around $50 and up, while materials will obviously add more costs
• Some plans can be rowing boats that can convert to sailboats
• Might take a while to hear back from them, as their contact section is a little outdated
• Their plans may not accommodate a ton of extras for your taste

Chase Small Craft

Chase Small Craft offers a simple process for building boats. Their kits are equipped with everything you need and will help save you time than just buying the materials outright and other parts you could need. This is arguably one of the best bang for buck instances if you want to save time and money searching for pieces to your boat.

They are located in Saco, Maine and will ship everything to your home from there. All the necessary materials are included and all you need are the proper tools and working space.

• All-inclusive kits with what you need
• Tons of knowledge on their site for boat building
• Easy process to order and customize
• Complete kits can range over $20,000 for larger boats
• Kits may take up to eight weeks to ship out

Chesapeake Light Craft

You can expect high-quality boat kits from Chesapeake Light Craft . They feature 18 different sailboat kits that vary from eight to 20 feet in length. This should be more than enough to find one for you if you are newer to boat building.

They also have a wide variety of other kits in addition to the sailboat, in the event that you wanted to order a small kayak or paddleboard in addition to your sailboat. The prices vary considerably when considering a small or larger boat, so check the complete list of options to in order to potentially fit your needs.

• Plenty of sailboat offerings to choose from
• Different beautiful hull form options to consider
• Easy to build and perfect for sailing
• Only has basic materials needed for kit, so you may need to purchase other items
• Has epoxy shipping fee no matter if you pick up item

Dudley Dix Yacht Design

Dudley Dix Yacht Design has an extensive list of plywood and single skin sailing boat options. They have plenty of sail plans and kits to consider depending on your goals. These follow a classic look for sailboats, which are aesthetically pleasing.

If you are wanting one to accommodate a small family, they have more than plenty to look through. The cost is not as bad compared to others, but keep in mind that you may need to throw in your own supplies or specific tools to get the job done.

• Plans start at $30 and range up to $7,500 or more for kits
• More than enough of options to consider
• Affordable variety of sailboat offerings
• Might be too many options for those new to sailing
• Most are wood without the use of aluminum or steel

Farrier Marine

If you are in search of a multihull to build, then Farrier Marine is what you need. They offer a unique folding catamaran that is trailerable and give you the option to build it yourself. This not only makes it an appealing option, but anyone can take this multihull boat wherever they want with ease.

It features a thorough construction guide once you receive all of the materials. These also come with stainless steel fasteners and an aluminum mast for high-quality materials. Pricing will vary since you must request which model type you are considering.

• Ability to build a unique catamaran
• In-depth construction guide to help
• Easily handled and trailerable
• Price may be too high
• Limited offerings since only a few multihull options

Glen-L Marine Designs

Building a boat from Glen-L Marine Designs can save you time and money. They feature an easy system to order and receive the kits, as well as an in-depth guide to building them. This is an appealing option compared to most boat kit sellers.

The beauty about Glen-L is that anyone can build these from scratch, so you do not have to be the best boat builder in the world to get it done. They offer guides and helpful insights from their team to point you in the right direction. Plans vary around $15, while kits can range well over $1,000 depending on boat size.

• Nearly 50 designs to choose from
• Complete guide to help anyone build it
• Plenty of price points depending on size
• Might be overwhelming with the amount of options
• Could take a while to get parts since they are popular

John Welsford Boat Designs

John Welsford Boat Designs invites new and veteran boat builders that want a taste of quality small wooden boats. The boat plans are designed to meet your specifications and are catered to your desires.

There are seven sailboat designs to choose from so you do not feel overwhelmed in the process. However, they do not sell kits all the time, so you would need to have the materials or be on the lookout for the best prices when they are available.

• Seven sailboat plans with different sizes
• Quality boat builder and supporting community
• In-depth knowledge provided to you when you order
• Might be too small of boat size
• Kits are not always available

Iain Oughtred

There are plenty of options on the wooden boat store, but you should narrow down your search for Iain Oughtred’s line of sailboat kits and plans. There are 25 different plans to choose from, which should accommodate most everyone looking to build their own boat.

While they do offer some kits, they do not routinely offer sailboat kits. You would need to purchase all of the materials if you are considering one of their sail plans. Keep this in mind if you are considering, as you would need to hunt down the parts yourself.

• 25 different sailboat plans to look through
• Various sizes to contemplate for you sailing needs
• Prices will vary but are not bad compared to market
• No sailboat kits, only plans
• Newer boat builders might find too many options unappealing

Paul Gartside Boat Builder and Designer

Gartside Boats is a boat builder company based in Long Island, New York that showcases a variety of boats from traditional and newer methods of boat building. Within that variety, they have boat plans meant for six to 50 feet in length.

With an abundance of options, you will need to contact them regarding prices and any customizable options. Kits may vary as well, as they typically design in-house and build for you.

• Experienced boat designer that can accommodate with custom plans
• Many options are trailerable
• Can have plans for up to a 50 foot boat
• You will need to contact them for prices
• Customized options may make process more complicated for new boat builders

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Sailboat at Home?

As you have likely already done so, the math between building your own boat and buying one may be a huge difference. Likewise, you may even enjoy the challenge of taking an older boat that is gutted and restoring with parts from a kit to build one new again.

But how much does it cost exactly to build a boat from the comfort of your own garage or workshop? The prices are going to vary dramatically depending on your situation and material needed to get the job done. In addition, the time that it takes to complete this will also vary.

Sail plans are rather inexpensive if you are aiming to build a small boat. These plans allow you to see the workings of the boat design and what you need to build the boat.

Without these plans, you will not know the exact details of the design and it can cause major issues with the boat’s hull or other areas of the boat. Think of these as the backbone or instructions of the boat’s infancy before being built.

Price Per Square Foot

You should assume to pay anywhere between $300 to $600 per square foot if you are interested in building a boat. Buying a kit outright can be a good way to save time, but oftentimes these do not come with everything you need.

Instead, you should try to source as much of the materials at the best price as possible. Thinking ahead is part of the process and you might be able to score a deal at a lumber yard or hardware store for parts.

Boat Designs Matter

The design of the boat will be much different from one boat to the next, regardless if they are the same size in length. If you are pondering boats that range anywhere between 16 and 20 feet, you should factor in the shape of the hull, any rigging, and various appendages.

Prices tend to increase when there are more complexities within the designs. If you are considering a kit with more details than others, you will also have to pay more for the designs on that as well.

Kits Can Differ

It is important to understand that all kits are not going to be the same. As you gander at sailboat kits online to stitch together, you need to thoroughly look over to see if you have everything you need before buying.

It would also be at your advantage to ask the seller if any additional parts or supplies are needed. This may change your dynamic on the kit buying process and you may pass up one for another if it has everything you need. An all-inclusive kit may cost several hundred, if not thousands, of dollars more to have the convenience of everything in the bundle.

Construction Approaches

Some boat plans may require you to have certain tools to get the job done. This means special saws or planers, which the average person simply does not have.

Purchasing specialty tools might be expensive upfront and hard to find depending on what it is. Your best bet would be to check locally for others trying to sell their tools or consider a boat plan that does not require extensive tools to finish the job.

How Long Does it Take to Build a Sailboat?

An easy to build sailboat could take a while to build from scratch. Many different variances come into play that are difficult to pinpoint for everyone. But how long is that exactly and how will your experience play into this?

A fun project to sail in the wind could take you several months to well over a year depending on the boat plan and how big your boat is going to be. In addition, the materials all need to be accounted for prior to starting in the event a hardware store does not have them in stock.

Time Varies

The time that passes for simple boat designs on small sailing vessels can be done in a few weeks. This is assuming you have everything you need and work non-stop around the clock.

Certain complex situations may make the process long, such as the difficulty of working with some materials. If you are a skilled laborer, it may take you half the time compared to a novice. The amount of time it can take will vary on your availability and skill level.

Planning ahead will undoubtedly offer the most time-saving features. It also helps if you can tackle parts of the project at your own pace.

Complexity of Design

The design of the boat may make the construction process longer. For example, it may take you longer to build a catamaran compared to a similar lengthed monohull.

More complex designs might require more materials, therefore making the process a bit longer to complete. Furthermore, you will also need more experience working with difficult designs and that will affect you more as a newbie.

Be sure to manage your expectations well and do not allow yourself to become too stressed over this fun project. If you can, seek expert boat building advice from a local builder or the company you purchased sail plans through.

Quality Materials

The quality of the materials will matter significantly when building a boat and will greatly affect the time it takes to construct it. Handling fiberglass or carbon fiber might require specialty tools, while wood also demands a certain level of craftsmanship.

If you are not skilled at working with the material at hand, it might affect the quality of the build and you may have to go back to fix mistakes. This will definitely add more time to your project, because mistakes are bound to happen with your first project.

To save time, consider adding the tools and materials throughout the year or as often as your budget allows. You may want to try testing your skills on fiberglass or other materials to get a feel for how to work with it.

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I've personally had thousands of questions about sailing and sailboats over the years. As I learn and experience sailing, and the community, I share the answers that work and make sense to me, here on Life of Sailing.

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8 Sailboat Plans

These sailboat plans are not for the novice woodworker. Building a sailboat requires a good knowledge and a lot of experience in woodcraft techniques. For those that are competent woodworkers, the successful completion of the construction of a sailboat can be a great ego trip!

Always read the sailboat woodworking plans carefully and make sure that there is enough information provided for you to be able to complete the project - before you invest in materials. Some of the plans are excellent, giving a great deal of instruction in text, pictures and drawings while other plans are only drawings and still others are only sketches.

As well, some of the sailboat plans, require a woodworking shop that is outfitted with a good selection of stationary power tools such as a table saw, jointer and thickness planer.

These sailboat plans are for the expert woodworker.

Additional boat plans can be found under the specific type of boat:

Canoe plans

Dinghy plans, houseboat plans, hydroplane plans, kayak plans, motorboat plans, paddle & oar plans.

10' sailboat plans .

Pilgrim 590 sailboat plans .

12' sailboat plans .

Puddle Duck Racing Sailboat plans .

14' sailboat plans .

Plywood sailboat plans .

Tri-maran sailboat plans ..

Dinghy sailboat plans .

These dory boat plans are provided in exceptional detail, including step-by-step digital pictures and instructions for every detail.

This is the perfect boat project for even a novice woodworker., impress your friends and family by building this exquisite dory boat.

• Row boat plans

Sailboat plans

• Power boat plans

Questions? Suggestions? Contact us at: [email protected]

BoatNews.com

Free model boat plans: the MiniX, an easy-to-build radio-controlled sailboat

We set ourselves a challenge: to make a sailing model. In the end, after hours of reflection and work, we discovered that we took as much pleasure in designing and building as we did sailing our yachts. Here is the description of our project and the plans to download. Another article follows with the steps of the realization.

An easy-to-build, eye-catching, high-performance sailboat

Who hasn't dreamed of a little wooden sailboat with a beautiful canvas cover? The idea for this project is a child's dream.

Sailing on a regular basis in "scale 1", we had the idea of having fun by sailing two boats to race in our "spare time". The boats had to meet the following specifications:

• Easy to transport . Measuring just 50 cm, our MiniX doesn't take up much space in a trunk. However, the keel and mast can be dismantled. If need be, the MiniX can even be included in our vacation luggage.
• Able to be thrown into the water "out the back of the car" without complicated implementation.
• No investment that would jeopardize our homes. As this is not a one-off activity, we didn't want to invest in expensive radio controls (our boat's biggest expense). A basic radio control kit is powerful enough to handle "small" sail surfaces.
• Resembling a sailboat at best, hence the presence of the deckhouse and cockpit. These two elements give a sense of scale without resorting to model-building. Above all, a sailboat must be beautiful. Don't we also sail for the pleasure of our eyes?

Modern construction

To keep it light (ready to sail , the MiniX weighs just 800 g), the hull is an extruded polystyrene/epoxy resin sandwich (laminated Depron). While this process is not impact-resistant (though...), the structure and sandwich make it very rigid. Together with the deck, the whole thing forms a kind of egg whose strength is astonishing. It's impossible to apply the slightest twist to the hull, despite its lightness (the bare hull weighs just 260 g).

Our yacht has a chine hull. But this doesn't detract from the look, as the chines are largely rounded and, combined with the straight bow, give the illusion of a beautifully shaped hull. When sailing close-hauled, the stern of the MiniX lifts off, limiting drag in the water.

Technical data

• Overall length (with rudder): 56 cm
• Hull length: 51 cm
• Width: 17.6 cm
• Draft: 25 cm (but this may change...)
• Air draft: 92 cm (mast: 86 cm)
• Operating weight (with sails, servos, batteries and keel ): 800 g
• Bare hull weight (without servos and keel ): 260 g
• Weight of ballast: 240 g (but may vary according to draught...)
• Wing surfaces: Jib= 6 dm² GV= 15 dm²

MiniX drawings

You can download the plans. They're simple and precise. We made our two boats by printing them on a basic A4 printer. Then we simply assembled the sheets by superimposing them and gluing them (repositionable spray glue ) to Depron. A sharp cutter is all it takes to build the MiniX with precision.

Just one thing: we've put a lot of heart and soul into building this yacht. We'd be delighted if our experience could be put to good use. Don't hesitate, help yourself! But be so kind as to let us know with a little comment. We'd love to hear from you.

Here you can download the first part of the plan in A4 PDF format .

With this you already have the complete boat. Based on the construction photos, there's not much missing to build the whole MiniX. But since we're taking care of you, here are the sail plans too:

• Mainsail plan

Real sails with webs for their shape.

The construction budget

MiniX doesn't have to be expensive. We've always tried to find a way of "diverting" objects to make our project a reality. So it's hard to come up with an exact budget. It will be higher for someone who doesn't even own the basic tools , and much lower for someone who does it in the back of his already well-stocked workshop.

• 6 mm Depron sheet (2 sheets, 125 x 60 cm)
• Epoxy resin + fillers
• Glass fabric
• 4 mm plywood (a small piece for the keel , keel shaft and rudder)
• Carbon tubes (6 mm for the mast and 4 mm for the booms)
• GV carbon batten (1/10 mm in kite stores)
• Remote control servos kit ( first price: ?60)
• Florist paper for the sails (a good opportunity to give pleasure...)
• Blenderm (surgical tape), available from chemists, to join the sails. Cut the 20 mm roll in half to double its length.

In the end, we estimate a maximum budget of ?120 per boat (calculated in 2021).

Because a construction project like MiniX is above all a team project... And in a team it's good to be complementary.

The MiniX project went through a long phase of gestation - reflection - intellectualization - drawings - exchanges - helping hands to get to this stage. Today, it's sailing thanks to this pooling of skills. We hope you'll enjoy this project as much as we have. And we look forward to hearing from you in the comments or on the forum. Enjoy!

• Custom Boatbuilding
• Boats for Sale
• Stock Plans

 Full plans of the 21ft Cutter, Design #279 appear in the March/April 2024 issue of Water Craft magazine.  Scale drawiungs of this design are available at the special discount price of US$95 until June 30th 2023.  Click here for more details.

 Full Plans for the 19ft Cat Boat design #275 appear in the November/December 2023 issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this plan are available at the special discount price of $75.00 until December 31st 2023 by clicking here.

 Full Plans for the 16ft Shanty Boat Design #276 appear in the September/October issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this plan are available at the special discount price of $75.00 until October 30th 2023 by clicking here .

 Full plans of the 20ft seaging Canoe Design #274 appear in the July/August 2023 issue of Water Craft magazine.  Scale drawiungs of this design are available at the special discount price of US$75 until June 30th 2023.  Click here for more details.

 Full plans of the 14ft Sailing Dinghy Design #271 appear in the March/April issue of Water Craft magazine.  Scale drawings of this design are available at the special discount price of $75.00 until April 30th 2023.  Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 25ft Sailing Scow Design #269 appear in the Jan/Feb 2023 issue os Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this design are available a the special discound price of $85 until February 28th 2023.  Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 37ft Motor Sailer, Design #267 appear in the November/December 2022 issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this design are available at a special discount price of $100 until December 31st. Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 15ft Light Skiff Design #268 appear in the September/October issue of Water Craft magazine.  Scale drawiungs of this design are available at the special discount price of US$85 until Ocotber 31st 2022.  Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 6.75 metre CB Sloop design #266 appear in the July/August 2022 issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this design are available at a special discount price of $85 until Augsut 31st 2022. Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 4.5 meter Outboard Runabout Desing #265 appear in the May/Junel 2022 issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this design are available at a special discount price of $75 until June 30th. Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 30ft V bottom Motor Sailer Design #264 appear in the March/April 2022 issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of this design are available at a special discount price of $100 until April 30th. Click here for more details.

Full plans of the 20ft Workboat Design #258 appear in the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings of the plans for this boat can be obtained at a special price by clicking here .

NEW LAUNCHING September 2021, 14ft Sailing Dinghy 'Skraeling' Design #260. Click here for plan information

Full Plans of the 19ft double ended CB sloop, Design #257 appear in the November/December issue of Water Craft Magazine. Scale drawings of the plans for this boat can be obtained here at a special discounted price through December 31st 2021.

Full plans for the 27ft Cruising Canoe, Design #263 can be found n the September/October 2021 issue of Water Craft Magazine. Scale drawings of this design are available here . 

Full Plans of the 34ft Motor Cruiser Design #245 appear in the July/August issue of Water Craft Magazine.  Scale drawings are available here .

Full plans of the 16ft Cruising Dinghy, Design #262 appear in the May/June 2021 issue of Water Craft Magazine. Scale drawings are available  here .

Full plans of the 5.0 metre launch design #261 appear in the March/April issue of Water Craft magazine, or are available  here .

Full plans for the 14ft Double Ended Sailing Skiff 'Skraeling' Design #260 appear in the Jan/Feb issue of Water Craft Magazine, or are available by clicking  here.

Full plans for the 16ft Double Ended Rowboat, Design #242 available at a special  here . 

Full plans for the 13ft Plywood Catboat 'Crisis' appear in the July/August issue of Water Craft Magazine, or are available by clicking here .

Full plans for the 16ft daysailer Design #226A are published in the January/February issue of Water Craft magazine from the U.K. and are available  here .

The 22Ft Cutter Lady Jana (Ex Surprise) is for sale. She is seen here circa 2000 in Alaskan waters. Click  here  for details. 

Full Plans for the 4.9 metre Cutter 'PUDEL' are published in the September/October issue of Water Craft Magazine. Scale drawings may be purchased  here .

Click here to see details of 32 ft Gaff Cutter Design #223.

RECENT ADDITIONS TO OUR STOCK PLAN CATALOGUE

Design #236 45ft Cruising Cutter

Design #235 30ft Double ended Schooner

Design #233 14ft Plywood Rowboat

Design #231 10ft Sailing Dinghy

Design #230 15ft Clamming Skiff Design #229 24ft Light Double Ended Sloop Design #228  6 Metre Cabin Launch Design #227 25ft Tancook Schooner Design #226 17ft BEACH CRUISER

Design #225 18ft CENTREBOARD SLOOP Design #224  12.2 METRE SCHOONER 

Free Boat Plans

Water Craft magazine from the United Kingdom now publishes a complete set of Paul Gartside boat plans in every issue. Subscribers can build right from the pages of the magazine. Whether you are a compulsive builder or simply enjoy studying boat drawings, Water Craft is the magazine for you.

Subscribe to Water Craft

Reader Comments (1)

Is it still possible to buy full set of scale prints for the rowing/sailing pram dingly Porgy?

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• About Modern Wooden Boats
• Tips & tricks
• What’s inside a boat plan ?

Petrel 33: widen your horizons

Petrel 33 is the logical evolution of her smaller sister petrel 28 , with the task to expand the horizons of cruising activity for a 4-6 person crew, raising the bar of onboard comfort, keeping the boat size under the critical (for a homebuilder) size of 34 foot – 10 meters of overall length., a “new classic” looking cruiser, sturdy, with no frills and weird solutions, ready to let you sail with a decent speed and a very good comfort level both at anchor and sailing., the starting point is the very good sailing capabilities shown by the petrel 28, so i decided to develope this hull into a enlarged design, keeping a quite narrow hull for actual standard, prolonging the bow lines for a plumb stempost; i expect to have a similar behaviour of the proven 28footer, with a tender weather helm in every situation, a very soft and gentle wave riding attitude in a seaway, and a good acceleration coming out of the tacks, i expect a little bit more speed given the longer water length ; section are moderately full at the bow, maximum beam is around 60% of hull lenght , transom sections keep a moderate vee.

Stability calculations give us good parameters (see stability curve attached) , with a real large positive area stability, a 123° AVS (Angle of Vanishing Stability) with loaded boat, and a minimal negative area in the stability curves.

Rig and sailplan:

Sailplan is based on a 50% area split among mainsail and a furling jib ; we kept the upwind sailing area to a moderate value, avoiding “wannabe racers” temptations; a decent sized gennaker can be hoisted on the fixed bowsprit, an obvious choice given the fact that the new generation furlers are making this sails very easy to manage for cruising crews too, adding the pleasure of sailing downwind in light airs at a decent pace, a weather situation which is quite a pain in normal mainsail + jib configurations ; in roughest situation you can hoist a storm jib on a removable internal stay fitted on a high load chainplate leaning on the forward structural bulkhead ; rig is a classical 2 spreaders mast , spreaders are 15° swept, there is a structural backstay and no structural runners, lower shrouds are doubled., deck gear configuration features classical sturdy and manageable solutions, without too many frills : 4 self tailing winches to pull sheets, halyards and control lines, 2 stoppers array on cabin top panel, 2 tracks for jib cars, so that the jib can keep a decent shape even furled, a small track for the mainsail purchase, all the control lines are led to cockpit to avoid bow walks in “spicy” situations (plans will detail how to make bombproof fitting points for lifelines too);, boat will be powered by a diesel (20-30 hp) or electric (7 kw) inboard engine fitted with a saildrive or shaft-line transmission ; this will allow to keep a decent pace while motoring in zero wind situation, or to add a good booster to sail thrust if needed; i expect to reach a 6.5 knots boat speed at 2000 rpm with a 30 hp diesel engine., rudder and steering system:, rudder is a single blade semi-compensated one with tiller steering system ; there will be two options detailed on plans: spade rudder with ss steel shaft (this solution is depicted in rendered images), and an easier to build transom hung rudder., finkeel is naca profile keel made of welded steel plates, ; ballast is made by lead poured in the keel hollows ; keel is fitted on the hull with a web of bolts on solid hardwood floors, with nuts and high thickness ss steel counterplates under the cabin floorings; keel load is carefully distributed to avoid any local high stress area., interiors and on board living:, this area marks the main differences among this 34 footer and her smaller sister; higher hull topsides and two more meters of boat make a world of difference in terms of interiors and on board comfort; we have 6 regular berths, a comfortable galley and dinette area, a decent volume for on board systems and storage, all that you need to medium-long range sailing given the size of the boat ; both forward and after cabin are closed with a small door to gain a little bit more privacy ; cabin height is around 191 cm , cockpit is quite wide, and it’s designed to be comfortable for a crew of 6 while sailing with the heeled boat too ; transom area is protected by a sturdy wooden hinged structure that can be lowered when moored to be used as a transom platform. low sleek coamings protect the forward area of the cockpit , making the primary winch basement too; toerails and good sized areas among cabin flanks and hull sheerline make going to the bow a very safe operation even when boat is heeled and in rough conditions;, building system:, given the good amount of miles sailed by petrel 28  in every sea state with very good reliability, i keep a similar structure for this project, upgrading the scantlings to cope with higher stresses; so the boat structure is a grid of plywood bulkheads and frames linked by solid wood stringers and a mixed plywood-solid wood structure forming keel backbone and stempost ; hull planking is made by 12 mm plywood, with the radiused area made by two layers of 6 mm plywood panels , all glued to the underlying structural grid , in a reliable , sturdy and easy to build system called “radius chine” ; cabin , cockpit and deck surfaces are made by 10-12 mm plywood panels stiffened by a grid of secondary stringers, solid beams and other structural elements; the hull bottom is further stiffened by a number of solid wood floors , tightly spaced in the centerboat area, where they bear the finkeel loads. all critical areas and structural bondings are strengthened and stiffened by epoxy resin laminated glass fabric and epoxy resin liquid joinery and structural bondings. this building system is definitely suited to be realized by home builders or small boatyards, with a basic level of wood craftmanship , in a decent amount of time given the size of the boat., in my view this will allow a small boatyard to build and offer a highly customized top level sailboat keeping the final prize to a reasonable level, which is basically the main concern when it comes to manage a small boatyard..

Building plans and study plans: project Petrel 33 is is completed : now I’m starting the long and meticulous process of drawing the building plans; complete plans will be available approximately at the end of spring at this link , anyway if someone is so committed to long for an immediate start of construction he can purchase plans starting from now, a first batch of drawings (hull parts , assembly scaffold and hull structures) will be delivered within a week so that he can start building, the rest will follow as scheduled within half of June 2018; study plans and bill of materials will be available approximately within the end of April 2018 and will be downloadable form this page for free, as usual. Stay tuned !!!

Plans price: 900 € for paper sheets, 840€ for pdf format drawings, 350 € for cad engraving files (required if you want to cut all the plywood parts with cnc machinery, includes keel steel plating shapes) ; plans will be made approximately of 27 drawings and a 25 pages booklet with assembly sequence, tips and tricks, plans can be purchased here, a discount will be available for the first buyer ., petrel 33 specifications, hull length: 9,90 m (bowsprit included), overall length: 9,90 m, maximum beam: 3,03 m, prismatic coefficient: 0,53, sink rate: 170kg/cm, canoe body wet surface: 18 m2, draft at design displacement: 1,80 m, vacant ship diplacement: 3400 kg (all gear up, no water and food, no fuel), design displacement: 4050kg (crew of 4 + luggage, 50kg fuel, acqua 150 liters water, 100 kg extra), maximum displacement: 4500 kg (crew of 6 + luggage, full fuel, full water), ballast: 1300 kg: fixed keel, upwind sail area : 47,3 m2 , mainsail 23.2 m2, jib 24 m2, staysail on removable babystay: 6.5 m2, gennaker: 65 m2, mast height on dwl: m 13,3, performance parameters : sa/displ^0.66 = 19.5 , sa/wet surface = 2.6 (canoe body only), engine: diesel inboard with saildrive or shaftline transmission, 20-30 hp, 50 liters fuel tank , electric engine specifications on plans, accommodations: 6 fulls sized (1,90 m or more) berths, 1 v berth at bow, 1 double berth on transom , 2 galley berths, interiors: charting table with main electric panel, vhf radio and chart plotter area, galley with stove, sink and 30 liters fridge, enclosed toilet with wc sink and shower, central table in dinette with foldable wings. 190 cm height in the whole galley area., systems: 12 v and 220 v wiring scheme, fresh water and black water plumbing scheme, 200 or more liter freshwater tanks.; two service batteries and a engine dedicated battery, ce label : possible b6/c10 , data to be required as extra item..

• plans: 900€ for paper version, 840 for PDF version , 350 for CNC cutting files , can be purchased here

- Thanks to everyone who support this site! -

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Home » LIST of WOODEN BOAT PLANS – By Michael Storer » Goat Island Skiff Boat Plan, Beautiful, Fast, LIght

Goat Island Skiff Boat Plan, Beautiful, Fast, LIght

The  Goat Island Skiff is our best selling sailing dinghy plan and is an easy to build wooden boat plan with excellent performance, light weight and capacity.

• Simple to Build – “Boatbuilding course in a Book”
• Modern Performance – Sails rings around most “character boats”
• Light enough to handle on land by yourself
• Easy to follow plans – step by step instructions.  96 page manual.

Length – 15’6″ (4.73m) Beam – 5ft (1.52m) Hull Weight – 128lbs (57kg) – Gaboon (Okoume) Ply Sail Area – Lug 105 sq ft (9.75 sq metres)

Read on to find out the basics but there is more! See all our articles on the Goat Island Skiff

A Sailing Dinghy Champion’s view of the Goat Island Skiff

Sailmaker Michael McNamara (Mike Mac) with over 60 major sailing dinghy championship wins in a wide range of racing dinghy types reviews the Goat Island Skiff.

I had a nice long sail in Richard’s Goat Island Skiff today and had a lovely sail. He has made a great job of the boat and it went like a dream. (boat right) I was very impressed with how simple the controls were and how quickly the boat went. It was also beautifully balanced. As you could expect the boat felt better when it was slightly heeled when beating. Off wind it felt fast but didn’t create a planing sort of wash…it just went faster and faster. When tacking I found that I had to be quite forceful in pushing it into the wind and it was definitely better to “roll” it coming out of the tack. I’m glad that I did have a sail because I found that I need to modify the sail slightly to give more fullness at the head. The yard bent more than I had anticipated. I will now get started on your sail and be in touch soon. Hope that is ok.

Ask questions and see builds on the GIS FB group

Click here for All  Videos

Lug rig setup and tuning information.

We have by far the best collection of articles on how to set up the Lug Rig and Lug Sail to get every bit of performance a modern sailor expects.

Off Centre Harbour’s View of the Goat Island Skiff

Off Centre Harbour is a huge website run by Maynard  Bray and other long term Wooden Boat Plan aficionados. Here is a free taster of their subscribe to view video.

Clint Chase the narrator also provides excellent Goat Island Skiff kits. Kits also available in other countries.

One of the nice things is the lack of wake under oar. The Goat is quite a quick rowing boat as well as a quick sailing dinghy . The high sides that provide a stability reserve  in sailing dinghy mode create more windage than is ideal for rowing. However, in any conditions you actually want to row it covers ground quick. Even to compete in Row/Sail events. The GIS came in third in every  rowing  leg of  the  Caledonia RAID against boats with two or  more set of oars. Joost Engelen, The Netherlands

Sailing the Goat Island Skiff and is it easy to build?

I’m staying with my Friends, Peter and Jo Hyndman, who built the first Goat Island Skiff over 12 years ago.

They also live on the edge of the Mooloola River – which makes it quite easy to take a break and go for a sail.

Peter has been perching up on his balcony with his new Nikon D80 Digital Camera while I put the sailing skiff through its paces.

One of the big problems with photos of quick sailing dinghy designs or quick boats is so little fuss as they travel through the water. They don’t look like they are doing much in photos, and we will rectify that shortly with some video clips so you can see just how much ground the boat is covering.

Definitely a quick boat.  Maybe it doesn’t have the top end of a modern racing boat, and it certainly will not be embarrassed by any non-trapeze type on any point of sail and all wind strengths.

The thing about the GIS is that it is constructed like a modern sailing dinghy out of a minimum number of pieces. Not a multi-piece  wooden boat plan of old:

• 4 x bulkheads to push the sides into shape create the built in buoyancy tanks
• 1 x transom (ditto)
• 3 x seat tops

There is very little else.

The Green Goat is John Goodman’s, here with the designer in the front in the 200 mile Texas200 mile event—speed despite carrying a large load of gear, water and food.

A homebuild wooden boat plan – but simple to build and fast.

The result is that this traditional-looking sailing skiff is lighter than many racing dinghies.  Peter’s Gruff weighs in at a very light 127lbs (58kg). Not bad for a boat a little under 16ft (4.8m). A geographic/historical advantage of Australian and NZ boat design and construction.   And no ultra thin ply or difficult construction is used – it is all robust 1/4″ (6mm) ply.

So in these pics you can see it in fast mode – and also see just how pretty it is.

By the way, the photos of this series show a 16 year old boat that has spent a lot of time living outside under a good cover in the tropics. The cover didn’t quite stop water getting in and the boat did sit with water inside in the tropical sun for months. There is no degrade as you can see.

Proof positive that epoxy coating reduces maintenance dramatically.

OK … back to the story.

A Plywood Sailing Dinghy sails well with four adults but flies with one or two.

If you look at the pics below and on Peter’s own GIS website you will be able to see it carrying a bit of weight too.  I’ve sailed it with 4 adults in the boat (Actually it was Peter and Jo, me and my ex Maz) for a daysail on Moreton Bay. That was with a picnic aboard – about 700lbs (310kg) of crew and gear.

Here is James Armstrongs boat in Florida with a load of bodies.

Nice moderate sailing breeze – we covered a lot of ground that day covering open water and skimming over shallows. Peter’s site has a great deal of general GIS information as well.

Rigging the Goat Island Skiff

Rigging the Goat requires very few manufactured parts compared to all the  expensive parts  on the modern sailing dinghy.

The main rigging guide to the GIS is here.

A simplified rigging guide for balance lugs is on the Oz Goose website for countries without good access to boat parts. Or just to save money but keep the performance.

Ask questions and see builds on the Goat Island Skiff FB group

Epoxy and Low Maintenance of a Modern wooden boat

You wouldn’t think the photo above was a 15-year-old  wooden boat by the pic.  It has not been repainted or revarnished – the sail and ropes have not been renewed as the loads on everything are so light compared to a modern boat.

This and many other photos are a testament to coating a boat with a good quality boatbuilding epoxy system and following it with a quality paint system.  It costs more in the first place. Owners enjoy the freedom from extra boat maintenance that would have been necessary if cheaper materials had been used, for example, if more inexpensive materials are used, avoiding the two or three major sandings back and repaintings are usually required if epoxy is not used.

There is a lot of information about use and advantages of epoxy in my boatbuilding FAQ .  You don’t necessarily need to use epoxy to build this boat, but it does make the structure terrifically strong and low maintenance.

The plans are highly detailed and are continuously revised throughout the GIS’s history. We spent much time working on providing more pics and drawings and a clearer layout.

One expansion is a series of photos giving information about the different systems of boat rigging. and there is more rigging and setup information for the lug rig online . This makes it easier to find the few fittings required independent of your geography.

From Sept 1, 2006 – The Goat Island Skiff is my most popular plan.

The reason … it is really pretty. But can back that up with performance, a forgiving nature and ease of building.

So the GIS catches peoples attention.

And this is the first photo I ever saw of it from Peter Hyndman all those years ago. I was really surprised by the size and volume.

Peter’s girls are all grown up now.

More pics on this  page

Once it has caught their attention they start to see other advantages.

Light – makes it easy to move around on shore and is one of the secrets behind the modern performance.  It actually weighs 10lbs LESS than a Laser Dinghy at 125lbs (57kg) when built of lighweight Gaboon plywood.

Versatile – it rows quite OK, sails like a rocket and can take a small outboard for non sailing days. Max 2 to 3hp.

Simple build – The Goat Island Skiff (GIS) is one of the easiest boats to build because of the greatly reduced number of parts.

A nice video of Two Goat Island Skiffs overtaking another sailing dinghy

For a very nice video of a Goat in a full race in real time against Lasers and Fireballs look here. Thanks to Enrico Franconi in Italy.

One of the fun things about the GIS is that the lug rig upsets racing dinghy-type sailors. Some rang me up and email me asking if they could put a more modern rig on the boat.  So far I have managed to convince all of them to stay with the four sided lug sail. And all of them have been grateful when they realise just how quick this sailing skiff goes.

The lug sail is highly efficient, quick to rig and unrig.  I know everyone says that “their” lug rig is highly efficient. However we, the designer and users, have done significant research and development into the Lug Rig .  Later that led us into making sails with ReallySimpleSails .  Both the GIS and BETH will give modern boats a run for their money and will sail rings around other character boats. Or if  you want a modern fast  light boat look at our Viola 14 Sailing canoe .

One of the most significant hints I can give them is to specify a low stretch halyard for the mainsail – spectra or dynex. It means the sail shape doesn’t deteriorate through stretch in the rope – well worth the extra $15.

If you are used to sailing modern sailing dinghy types like the Taser, Laser, OK, National 12, and Windmill you will find the Goat has much of the feel of these boats. Lively and responsive.  It can sail in modern company with quick conventional dinghies and not be completely outclassed.

Club Racing wooden boat with trad rig vs other sailing dinghies in the UK

George and Daniel raced their Goat with a regular dinghy race fleet here. It is our first step towards a yardstick handicap number.

Here is a video of a Solo Dinghy trying to get past the Goat Island Skiff in a club event.

However it has a much greater carrying capacity than any of the modern boats.  I have had it out with 4 Adults and it sails very nicely indeed. It  is an advantage of the easily driven hull form.

The other advantage of the lug rig is that it reefs very simply. The sail area is quite big at 105 sq ft (9.75 sq m) so with the hull’s light weight it has quite a big power to weight ratio for good fine weather performance.  When the weather blows up then it can be reefed for good control.  This is also why the GIS is relatively cheap to get on the water. A single big sail is a lot cheaper than having several smaller ones.  Generally adding a jib doubles the cost of rig and sails.

Easy to build Wooden Boat Plan

There are two parts to ease of building

• The quality of the plans
• Whether the designer understands the capabilities of the materials being used.

The plans for the Goat Island Skiff are more like a book than a plan.  Detailed information on each building step, how to join the plywood, how to mark the shapes of the panels, how to use the epoxy – it is all there.  More a course on boatbuilding than a simple plan.

One of the first things you notice looking at the GIS is the lack of timber framing. The interior is very clean and open. Loads are carried by the ply and the timber is just there to hold it together. Wooden boat plan with simplicity.

Photo below shows the clean interior. It is Robert Hoffman’s boat building in Poland.

• Less timber is used in the boat, which saves money.
• Less structure – which saves weight.
• Fewer parts so the boat builds much more quickly.

Building Space – a wooden boat that can be a  flatpack until final assembly.

Building space does not have to be enormous with initial prefabbing of panels and parts taking much less. I suppose the minimum for final assembly would be around 18ft by 6ft – a standard carspace would be more than adequate.

The boat is quite movable while under construction so could be worked on in the open and moved under shelter when not building.  As the major ply components are constructed on the flat, very little space is taken up until over halfway through the project.

Performance – keep the  boat flat and use the responsiveness of the light weight to catch every wave and gust.

This sailing skiff will sail much the same as most boats its size, but there are a few peculiarities that come with the flat bottom.

Sailing Flat – is still true.

A lot has changed about how to keep boats flat – and it also extends the ability to sail in stronger winds

As with almost all boats, the skiff will sail fastest if sailed level (Photo above is just as a gust struck) – with little or no heel. The exception is in very light winds; when you are struggling to get up any speed, the boat can be heeled over to 20°. The wetted surface is reduced by around 25%. As soon as the boat has achieved any sort of consistent speed it should be brought upright.

When the water is very choppy the boat may slam badly if sailed upright. A small amount of heel will smooth its movement considerably. The minimum amount of heel that stops the worst of the slamming should be adopted.

Reaching downwind then Flat Flat Flat. Use the Steer for Balance method.

The forward and aft buoyancy tanks are designed for use as seats when rowing. The boat will perform best sailing with crew weight concentrated around the middle thwart.

The final difference with many other boats is because there is no jib. This means that the mainsail boom should not be pulled in tighter than 10 degrees.

Setting up a Boat Trailer for the Goat Island Skiff.

The GIS can be carried on a lightweight trailer.  It is lighter than a  Laser sailing dinghy enough to be cartopped – but it is bulky so we recommend a trailer.

She fits nicely in a standard 5ft box trailer with an extended towing arm at the front.

Some European “Goatees” roof rack their Goats on compact cars. Enrico in Italy uses this peg board to move the boat up on the top by himself, and it has pegs making it a step-by-step lift. It is good to build to spec to get the standard 130lbs 62kg weight.

Rowing the Skiff – Oar size and placement

Here is Enrico Franconi and family rowing the Goat Island Skiff through Venice.

If rowlocks are to be fitted they need to go 300mm behind the back edge of the centre seat. The oars need to be 9ft long for best efficiency and the plans are free from my website – Click HERE .

There is always a bit of luck involved in designing a boat. Here it was that the 9ft oars store neatly in the bottom of the boat. Or up in the bow.

And in open Row and Sail events the Goat holds its own on the rowing legs. It came third in every rowing leg of Sail Caledonia RAID under the power of Joost and Viola from the Netherlands. Most of the other boats had two rowing places. So the boat does row well.

Motoring the Skiff

Because of its hullshape, the Goat Island Skiff can’t use more than about 3 or 4 hp effectively. Even two hp will push her along at good speed and electric motors, even quality trolling motors are a possibility. Higher horsepowers are not very useful because the sailing dinghy hull is not the right shape to go faster. It will stand up on its stern and start pounding in waves.

The Goat Island Skiff is set up to take small horsepowers (up to 3) already as the transom is braced by the knees in the corners and the top of the rear seat.

For more info on motoring read the article from Dave Graybeal below under “satisfied customers”.  He is currently building the new hollow mast design so his boys can take her sailing.

Questions and Answers

Can the gis carry a load.

From Leigh Hemmings on Scotland Island

Dear Michael, Hi, from Scotland Island.Today we used our light fast and pretty Goat Island Skiff as a concrete, blue metal and sand barge.  Previous days have seen it used as a timber barge – powered by an electric outboard!. When not in this guise it’s main role is our commuter boat.  But, once our renovation is a little further down the track, our Goat Island Skiff will once more become light fast and pretty sailing craft.  Trust you are well and enjoying life.

That Mast Looks Heavy – is there an alternative?

The standard square hollow wooden mast is in the GIS wooden boat plan. The mast step and partner are altered slightly, and drawings are now available and included with new plan sets.  As usual, the lighter structure is also cheaper because it uses less timber, and the timber thickness is easier to find.

For those wanting a round mast alternative, we have a hollow birdsmouth mast design. Just email me. The  two mast  versions  weigh about  the  same. There  is  a specification for a carbon mast and other  spars too.

Hollow Round Birdsmouth Mast Option

More on motoring.

The boat balances quite OK if there is someone else in the boat to sit on the front seat with the driver on the rear seat.  When by yourself, the boat will balance better if you make up a tiller extension for the outboard so you can sit on the middle seat.

A tiller extension for the outboard can be made of plastic pipe to fit over the outboard tiller.

What sort of Outboard works OK?

Not too big – you won’t go any faster and it might put too much load on the boat.

Perhaps you can use a slightly larger outboard, but generally, outboards don’t take too well to running at low revs all the time. And it is another heavy bit to carry around.

Be aware, too, that outboard weight is a whole field.  Generally, a manufacturer will use the same engine as the basis for 2 or 3 models.  So you may see three different horsepower outboards, all with about the same weight, and several models all use the same block and other internals.

So do some checking before buying.

For purchasers of the plan there is a birdsmouth mast option. E mail me with proof of purchase.

Reviews of the Goat Island Skiff Plans by Builders and Sailors

Reviews from happy builders and sailors

Our Other Plywood Boat Plans

We have sailboats, rowboats, fishing punts and SUPs. Also canoes and sailing canoes which are much more compact than average sailing dinghies.

Click here to see all our plans

• Building Skerry
• Building a Scamp
• Boatbuilding Links & Resources
• Boatbuilding Tools

Plans for Boats, oars and paddles. Many free plans

As I was looking through my boat plan links I realized that they were scattered here and there. I decided to compile the links all in one page to make it easier to navigate.

Email me if a link is broken. I try to update everything often but the internet is a fast paced place. (and I'm not so quick), I've also included free oar and paddle plans and books with plans in them.

I offer a few plans but most of these boat designs are links. I have not built most of these and cannot endorse them. Some plans are good, others not so much.

Many plans are now available, particularly those that offer hundreds of plans for very cheap, which are reprints from old Popular Mechanics and other magazine. The building methods are somewhat dated and the plans often not very detailed. Of more concern materials such as lead paint are sometimes recommended. Do your homework before building these. Often buying a good set of plans from a recognized designer will save you time and money in the end.

The following plan links may have duplicate because they may fit in different categories. A kayak plan might also be a free stitch and glue plan. Enjoy and go build a boat.

Links to All kinds of boat plans, oars, some free plans

• Miscellaneous Boat Plans many of them free. It's my largest plan page. Whenever I find a new plan I try and add it to this list.
• Motorboats Everything from simple skiffs to elaborate speedboats, classic wooden boats and fishing vessels.
• Dory Boat Plans Various plans some of which are free. Wide range of dory styles, usually characterized by a pointy front, relatively flat sides and toumbstone transom.
• Skiff Plans By skiff I mean a simple shaped pointy boat with a wide transom. Often used as a fishing boat. Capable of planing and carrying a motor.
• Strip Building Plans Often cedar strips are used. Often results in lovely rounded shapes with glorious wood finish. A favourite for canoes and kayaks but often seen in sailboats and multihulls.
• Ultra-Light Boat plans Imagine building a boat that weights less than 30 pounds and even less.
• Canoe and Kayak plans Many free plans included.
• Tenders Selection of boats suitable as tenders, some free. Many methods of building including stitch and glue, ultralight and strip building.

Free Boat Plans

• Free Skiff Plans Skiffs are fast easily built boats.
• Free Canoe and Kayak Plans There are some nice free designs out there. They vary in amount of detail offered.
• Free Stitch and Glue Plans Also plans that could be built using stitch and glue method.
• Free Rowboat Plans
• One Sheet Plans Boats can be built using only one sheet of plywood. Here are a few.

Free Canoe and Paddle Plans some links some actual plans

• Free Plans for Simple Oars by Spark Geissler Nice easy to build oars.
• Links to many Free Oar, kayak and Canoe Paddles. Some nice designs including traditional kayak paddles.
• Free Paddle Plan From an old boy's book.

Surf Boards and Paddle Boards

• Surf Boards and Paddle Board Plans

Multihulls and Proas

• Multihulls including catamarans, trimarans and proas.

House Boats

I have a few free actual boat plans, some in pdf format.

These are mostly from old sources. Check before building.

• Folding Boat Plan from Boy Mechanic Book Turn of the century design for a folding boat. Link to a video of someone who actually built it. It's quite good. I think the builder had to fiddle the dimensions some before it would fold properly, but it's a fun boat.
• Old Plan for Plywood Tender Actual plans, seems like a nice pram dinghy.
• Old Plan for Punt Actual plans, from old book. Substitute plywood for solid wood.
• Old Plan for Take Apart Skiff Actual plans, in PDF format. Boat is in 3 clip-together sections.
• Old Plan for folding boat in PDF format. Plywood with canvas hinges folding skiff.
• Take apart Jonboat come in 3 sections and has a built in cooler.
• Building a Skerry from plans
• Boatbuilding Links & Resources from my Website

I try to be accurate and check my information, but mistakes happen. ALSO keep in mind that not all free boats are good designs. Some are but others are worth exactly what you pay. Also keep in mind while I'm in a preachy mood, that a good set of plans will save you lots of time and if you've paid for them you can actually often contact the designer and get help.

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How to Build a Boat

Classic boat plans from a 1937 issue of Popular Mechanics , updated for the 21st century.

It was a long time since anyone in my family had built a boat. The last was my Uncle Paul. He was a shipbuilder who learned his trade beginning at age 14 in Hamburg, Germany. Every morning, the boy rowed from the family's dock out across the shipping lanes of the Elbe River, which flows into the North Sea.

The trip to the shipyard where he was apprenticed took an hour and a half, longer in winter, when there was fog and floating ice on the water. After three years, Paul received a journeyman's certificate and a berth aboard a gigantic four-masted windjammer named Passat—"trade wind" in English. That was in the 1920s, before the fascists confiscated his family's own small shipyard and the Berendsohns left for America.

A few months ago, I decided to try my hand at the ancestral trade. I've built everything from houses to a blacksmith's forge , but there's no more evocative project than a boat, at least to me. Since before Austronesians first gazed across the Pacific, wooden vessels have stood for craftsmanship and the drive to explore. I sifted through PM's archives looking for a classic design and eventually settled on a 10-foot dinghy from our May 1937 issue . It looked elegant, yet simple enough to build on a pair of sawhorses.

It's been many years since my Uncle Paul was around to lend advice, so I ran the drawings past Timo White, a boatbuilder at Tuckerton Seaport, a small maritime museum on the New Jersey coast. It turned out that Timo was in the midst of restoring a surfboard built from plans in the July 1937 issue of PM. (It was a big year for seafaring projects, I guess.)

He confirmed that the dinghy was a good candidate for a first-time builder and agreed to lend a hand if needed.

Shipyard in the Driveway

On a wintry early spring morning I set out for Willard Brothers Woodcutters, a sawmill and lumber dealer in Trenton, N.J. You can spend hours there, roaming stacks of delicious-looking walnut, cherry and oak, some of the boards as wide as your arm is long. I bought red oak for the Sea Scout's frames (that was the name of the craft in the plans, and I chose to keep it) and a 2-inch-thick slab of white oak for the wedge-shaped stem at the bow.

Back home, I started making a racket feeding planks through a table saw. My skills were creaky--I've spent too much time in recent years fixing stuff and not enough building--but over a few days my old confidence returned. The Sea Scout began to take form.

Most boats begin with the frames, the ribs that provide structure to the hull. I roughed them into shape, along with the stem and the gracefully shaped stern wall, or transom, which I cut from ¾-inch plywood. Then I braced it all to a building board--which is nothing more than a 2 x 10 with a chalk line marked down the center.

⚠️ To simplify the project, I omitted the mast and centerboard. Instead, I built the Sea Scout, named after the craft in the original article, to be rowed or powered by an outboard motor. She works well in either configuration. You can find the original plans and materials list here.

The boat's skeleton was in place, but each member still needed to be precisely beveled before I could secure the curved planks of the hull. The next step was to clamp thin strips of wood, called battens, to the frame to stand in for the planks, so I could measure and mark all those angles. Then, I took the parts off the board and finished shaping them.

Often, the weather confined me to the garage, but when the sun emerged I worked in the driveway. If you want to get to know the neighbors, start building a boat. Linda from next door asked whether the craft would be sailed, rowed or powered by an outboard motor. Others wondered where I would go with it, how I'd get it there and what I would name it. A truck driver from Tulnoy Lumber, dropping off some marine plywood, approached respectfully. "This is beautiful," he said, with an old-fashioned New York accent as broad as the hand he ran over the frames.

Anatomy of a Boat

Working the Plank

I don't know how Uncle Paul felt about it, but boatbuilding can be acutely frustrating. The bane of my weekends proved to be a small bronze screw. A No. 6 Frearson flat-head, to be exact. Like most modern DIYers, I'd been spoiled by drywall screws and other aggressive fasteners that practically plow into the lumber. Even using a specialized, tapered drill bit and a waxlike lubricant with the unlikely name of Akempucky, I managed to wreck screws by the dozen. The head on one would strip a moment before the screw was fully seated, while another would shear off on the last eighth of a turn, leaving me with a shiny Frearson-head penny.

Timo had tried to downplay the arcana I'd face--"It's more like house carpentry than fine-furniture building," he had said--but I still found myself floundering on occasion. One challenge was that the 1937 article was more an overview than a detailed set of plans. And, though it pains me to find fault with my forebears at Popular Mechanics, the sketch contained suspicious discrepancies. Timo helped me recalibrate some of the dimensions midway through the project—and I had to trim several pieces after they were assembled.

The biggest hurdle came when it was time to plank the hull. The classic way is to bend strips of solid wood to the frames. I'd chosen marine-grade fir plywood instead to save time, but now I was barely able to force the hull's 14-inch sheets into place. There was no way the half-inch plywood I'd planned for the bottom was going to work.

Timo advised me to switch to a special, wafer-thin marine-grade plywood and plank the bottom in two layers. He came swooping in one Thursday morning to show me the technique. He stepped out of his truck with a broad smile, and a block plane in each hand, and my mood lifted. He politely took a sighting down the chine logs where we'd attach the bottom, and spent a few minutes planing them to the last measure of precision. Then we got to work with staples, glue and screws--and in a couple of hours the project went from a plywood flower bed to a small craft with sensuous compound curves.

It was satisfying, but my mistakes still showed in details like the placement of screws and the shape of the stem. "You know what they say," Timo told me. "Putty and paint makes a boat what it ain't." I got out my paintbrushes.

Maiden Voyage

We launched the boat at Tuckerton Seaport on a cool, overcast day that felt more like September than June. Down at the dock, Timo produced a can of Amstel Light in lieu of champagne. "Go ahead," he said, "pour it over the bow." I popped it open and emptied the beer over the paint. "I christen thee Sea Scout," I said. Then we slid the little craft off the dock and into the water.

You might think a feeling of triumph came over me. Not so. The Sea Scout looked very small, almost helpless, as she sat bobbing at the end of the painter, the little rope that Timo had threaded across the bow. I felt humbled. A phrase from the Book of Psalms flashed in my mind: "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business on great waters."

I wasn't aiming for any great waters myself. I eased off the dock and into the boat. Timo handed me the oars. Awkwardly, I drew the handles back, just above my hips. The craft slid forward gracefully, almost like she was on ice. As Timo watched, I braced the left oar down in the water and swept the surface with the right. The Sea Scout pivoted neatly, unexpectedly elegant and spry.

If the oars were a kick, you can imagine the thrill I felt when I mounted the 2.5-hp Mercury Marine outboard on the transom. It's a clean-running four-stroke engine, compact yet almost zippy on a boat this small. I gave the engine full throttle and cut some nice straight lines and a pleasingly tight curve complete with a crisp little wake.

With the afternoon gone, my first voyage was complete. In the end, I decided to donate the boat and engine to Tuckerton Seaport. Frankly, I needed the space in my garage and driveway: The Sea Scout was a good first foray into wooden boatbuilding, but I knew I could do better—and I'm already sifting through plans.

The Sea Scout, a Decade Later

Ask anybody who’s ever built a boat, and they’ll tell you one thing about it: you’re not the same after you’ve built one. And that goes for me, too. The little boat, which I built back in 2009, shaped me as much—or perhaps more—than I shaped it.

The Sea Scout project brought a flood of mail from our readers, some of whom had built the boat or knew someone who did. One woman still had the boat that her father built. She sent a picture of it and recalled the many pleasant hours she spent with her dad as her father taught her how to sail in it. She kindly offered to donate the boat to us, thinking that perhaps we could put it in our lobby. I wish I could have taken her up on the offer.

When you build a boat, you take your place in the long line of craftspeople—professional and amateurs alike—who have plied that trade and learned about the unique burden of building a craft upon whom someone’s safety and enjoyment will depend. Building a boat is humbling, you remember every mistake you made building the thing as it bobs up and down, and waves wash over its bow or crash into it from the side.

You feel it shudder, but it doesn’t give way as you look over the side at the murky depths. And afterward, you look at every boat with a more knowing eye, a greater respect...and you wonder if you could build it.

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.

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Sailboat Plans 30-40ft

Bruce Roberts sailboat designs

Boat plans 30 - 40 ft  .

This section of Bruce Roberts sailboat designs and boat plans cover the following vessels in the range of 30 to 40 foot. The Roberts, Classic, Henry Morgan, Offshore, Power Cat, PCF 36/40, and Canoe Stern designs. Boat building plans using steel, aluminium, fiberglass wood/epoxy, dependant on the design, are available. Information and prices are on each individual design page.

Study Plan Packages contain all the sheets #1 from the actual plans. Sail Plans and the various accommodation layouts pertaining to the design are shown on these sheets. There may be anywhere from two to eight #1 sheets which are all to scale and which measure between one meter and two and a half meters long each. They are intended as a more in-depth overview of the design in which you are interested.

Material Lists for the basic materials required to build the hull, deck and superstructure are included in the study plan package to help you with your budgeting. Where Fibreglass is mentioned as a material this means Balsa sandwich / Foam sandwich, Single skin or C-Flex. Most steel plans can be adapted to aluminium construction. Both moulded ply and strip plank can be used in conjunction with the wood epoxy saturation method. Sail and rig details are also shown on the study plan sets.

As the Study Plan Packages include the basic measurements in scale for the accommodation layouts, you can customize the layouts to suit your needs if what is presented is not exactly to your liking.

The link to download the Study Plan Packages is emailed to your email address and generally within 24 hours, The link to the Full Plan Sets is also generally emailed within 24. All study plans and full plan sets are downloadable in .pdf format for you to have printed at a nearby print shop. The study and full plan sets are available on CD's on request with postage cost depends on country.

To View drawings , photos, information and prices of the design that interests you just click on that design.

Payments:  We only accept payments through PayPal. This method of payment protects both of us. Please be aware that there is no obligation or need to be a member of PayPal to use them to pay us using the normal various methods of payment.

Pram Dinghy Boat Plan

Roberts Pram Dinghy This Pram dinghy can be built in fiberglass or plywood. The pictures sho..

Classic 31 Boat Plan

Roberts Classic 31 This is an earlier design that some traditionalists may find appealing. It may..

Roberts 310 Boat Plan

Roberts 310 This design may be built with either a regular trunk cabin or a pilot house. It is al..

Henry Morgan 32 Boat Plan

Roberts Henry Morgan 32 This is an earlier design that traditionalists may find appealing. It is ..

Roberts 34 Boat Plan

Roberts 34 This is an earlier design that still enjoys a great amount of popularity. It has been ..

Canoe Stern 341 Boat Plan

Roberts Canoe Stern 341 Designed by Graham Shannon this is for those of you that are looking for ..

Roberts 345 Boat Plan

Roberts 345 Originally this was designed for lightweight frameless multi-chine steel construction..

Roberts 35 Boat Plan

Roberts 35 This is a classic modern design that has been built as a production boat in many parts..

PCF 36-40 (Pacific Coast Fisherman) Boat Plan

Roberts PCF 36-40 (Pacific Coast Fisherman) This design may be built as a motor sailer for family..

Roberts 36 Boat Plan

Roberts 36 This design is a well proven world cruiser as many are currently sailing in different ..

Roberts 370 Boat Plan

Roberts 370 Such has been the response to this design that plans for it's construction are availa..

Offshore 38 Boat Plan

Roberts Offshore 38 Full plans for this design are available for building in round bilge Fibergla..

Power Catamaran 39 Boat Plan

Roberts Power Catamaran 39 These catamarans were designed to be built using the fibreglass panel ..

Roberts 39 Boat Plan

Roberts 39 This design is available only in multi-chine hull form, sloop or, with the addition of..

Roberts 392 Boat Plan

Roberts 392 This design is a companion to the Roberts 39 which until now had only been available ..

Roberts 40 Boat Plan

Roberts 40 This design comes with either a centre cockpit or a pilot house layout. There is adequ..

intheboatshed.net

Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast

Free boat plans

SCROLL DOWN THIS PAGE FOR MANY MORE PLANS

This a page of links to some favourite free boat plans at intheboatshed.net . They’ve been chosen because they are derived from traditional boats, or in some cases simply for their usefulness. There are quite a few here, but you’ll find still more in the intheboatshed.net weblog using the search gadget. If you find anything you feel I should add, please let me know at [email protected] .

PLEASE ALWAYS USE THE LATEST VERSION WHICH WILL CONTAIN ANY CORRECTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THE DESIGNERS ATTENTION.

Brian King’s Barton skiff during construction:

See a short video of Brian’s boat in action using a 3.5hp outboard at 6knots or so. Note the near complete lack of wake, which should indicate that the boat’s working efficiently.

– The 14ft Sunny skiff – get the plans for this easy to build lightweight rowing boat  here .

Sunny skiff lightweight plywood rowing dinghy

– The 12ft Ella skiff – get the plans for this easy to build lightweight rowing boat here .

– The sailing version of the Ella skiff – get the plans here   (now in version 1.2).

The sailing version of the 12ft Ella skiff

• Ben Crawshaw sails the Ella skiff

– The intheboatshed.net Julie 15ft 7in flat bottomed rowing skiff

• Additional measurements for building a strongback – if that’s the approach you prefer
• Complete free plans package for the intheboatshed.net flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff
• intheboatshed.net skiff – drawings and coordinates for stitch and glue
• intheboatshed.net skiff – photos of our model, and maybe yours too?
• intheboatshed.net skiff – now we can make a model
• intheboatshed.net skiff progress
• Early drawings for a 15ft 5in lightweight flat-bottomed American-style skiff

The Mk 2 Light Trow – click on the photo for a larger image

See a clip of the Light Trow sailing:

Download the Mk 2 Light Trow plans , and the model-making plans (making a model to be an important preparation for making this kind of boat). Alain Yvorra sent over photographs of a model he has made:

Alain wrote: ‘The design and plan made things very easy to follow, and the building of the model was a breath of fresh air, bringing, as I saw it coming together, quite a wonderful satisfaction.’

Also, see Ben Crawshaw’s excellent weblog about building and then cruising the Light Trow on the Spanish coast; also, read about the original trows : The Fleet Trow

– The Cinderella canoe

Al Burke’s Cinderella

Al’s comments following his first test were interesting: ‘A successful design that is an absolute delight to paddle and which brought comments like “beautiful lines” and “do you want to sell it?” from people on the beach watching the test.’

I think this is a nice small open paddler, but bouyancy tanks or bags would be a essential if you’re going to do more than paddle in narrow rivers or small shallow lakes.

See: A Cinderella canoe adapted for rowing Plans for building the Cinderella:  Cinderella  download

– The Light Dinghy

Light Dinghy – click on the drawing for a larger image

For more on this boat, see:

• From dinghies to the Architectura Navalis and back
• Tempting plans for the boat-dreaming season, part III

– Doris the Dory

Plans for building Doris the Dory: Doris the Dory download  

– The Forest & Stream skiff

Forest & Stream skiff in built in Sweden – click on the photo for a larger image – see the post: A little classic to build this spring

– The small Bluestone schooner :  My Bluestone schooner design in the spotlight  and the download including the chine version

Free designs from other designers

– A 12ft ply-built Fleet trow

Photos by Jenny Steer and Derek Thompson

Offsets kindly provided by the Boat Building Academy folks at the bottom of this post

– A sailing Duck Punt, as raced on the English East Coast

Plans for John Milgate’s Duck Punt

– The South Haven Dory

Build the South Haven Dory

– International 12 dinghy George Cockshott’s sweet 12-foot dinghy

– Chuck Merrell’s Apple Pie

Temptations part V: a dinghy so small, your family will hardly notice…

– Canvas canoe How to build a canvas canoe – Hannu Vartiala’s coracle Hannu Vartiala’s website changes address

-The Brockway skiff

Build the Brockway skiff

– Wolfgang Brink’s Greenland Kayak

How to build a Greenland kayak

– An alternative folding boat

An alternative folding boat – Boat plans from Practical Boatbuilding for Amateurs , including the 10ft double-ended skiff, various punts etc Practical Boat Building for Amateurs

– Thames skiff and racing punt At last – free online designs for a skiff and a racing punt

– Howard Irving Chappelle’s traditional 14ft skiff Chappelle’s 14ft skiff – another candidate for the 2008 boatbuilding season?

– Mark Wallace’s Black Skiff

Boatbuilding plans for the Black Skiff have been designed and made available for free by Mark Wallace – he says all he asks for is to be given the credit for designing the boat.

I think it’s an elegant design. The plans are not likely to be the easiest for first-time boatbuilders to follow, but it would be well worth picking the required skills up by reading one of the classic books on this kind of boatbuilding. See the Intheboatshed.net Amazon bookshop for something suitable.

Mark ways she’s a strong light-weight boat loosely with strong links to Scandinavian types. She proven to be an excellent rower, has a capacity of four adults and has a flat bottom for easy beaching.

Go to Mark’s website for more information and plans in pdf format: http://www.markwallaceshipwright.com/plans.html

By the way, don’t miss Mark’s impressive collection of testimonials .

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75 thoughts on “free boat plans”.

As my mind turns to building MY first boat during the winter months, I browsed and found many sites and such. Yours has been a great place to see and feed that desire. Thank you for your site. I live on a river that empties into the Matagorda bay, here in Texas, and the wind blows regular like crazy. But, I think that I found my first boat in the information given here on your site. Wish me luck!!! The water might be shallow here on the river but the mud is VERY deep. I'll be sure to send you photos and let you know how it all turns out. Again, thank you.

Glad to be of help Charli – which boat are you planning to build for your first boatbuilding project?

Hey, I am hoping to build the julie skiff for my first boat.

I made the model last night but i am unsure on how it scales up, i downloaded the zip file and i am unsure on how to use your co-ordinates, please help!

It's late and I have a date with a pillow, but I'd delighted you're interested in building this boat.

The coordinates work like this. The letters label the many 'significant' points on the drawings, often they are points where two different lines join. The coordinates are pairs of numbers, as you'll have noticed, and each pair defines a particular single point on the ply.

It's like plotting a graph at school, but if that doesn't come easily think of it this way:

Consider two coordinates 3 1/8, 6 1/2

3 1/8 defines a line parallel to the left-hand edge that is 3 1/8in in from the edge, while 6 1/2 defines a line parallel to the bottom that is 6 1/2 up from the bottom. The point being defined is where the two cross! There are a lot of points to plot, and when they have been plotted, you have to join the dots to make a complete drawing, as it were.

Does that help? If not, if you know someone with some background in maths should be able to sort it out for you using pencil and paper.

Hey, I am 14 years old and plan on constructing a skiff for fishing.

My grandpa has a Bachelors in Drafting and is very good with wood and we have all the tools, so I was wondering, do you think you could work with me on designing a boat if you have the time? I have a few ideas in mind and I'm starting to put them down on paper.

By helping I mean could you tell me what I would need for the design I have? Thank you for such a great website!

I'm sorry Ryan – I'd like to help but I'm desperately short of time due to work and family responsibilities. You max find some of my free plans will give you some ideas however. Gavin

It's ok Gavin,

Like I said, only if you have time and are interested.

When I come up with a design I'll send you them and send you pictures of the outcome that you can put up 🙂

There's a great little book entitled How to design a boat by John Teale – if you can find it, I think it will be very useful.

Thanks Gavin

I have actually managed to maneuver my way over to Duckworks Magazine through your site, and they have been very helpful over there!

Excellent news – I'm sorry I'm in no position to help myself at the moment.

it's quite alright Gavin, you have been of help though. Your hard work in putting this site together has payed off for me and many others!

Hi Gavin, Many thanks for all that you've done for potential DIY Boat Builders, like myself! Look forward to the new adventure.

Hi there, a little advice please.

my brother and I have a 3 year plan. My kids will both be teenagers in 3 years time.

My brother is the sailor in the family (the brains) I am the canoeist and rower (used to be the brawn now a little slack around the middle).

We want to build a boat that we can sail both on lakes and lochs and when the kids are teenagers we can take up the west coast of Scotland for extended touring holidays – ideally both camping and sleeping on the boat.

At the moment the kids sail mirror dingy and are very keen to help in the build.

My brother and i really like the looks of norse double enders and are taken with the caledonian yawl. Problem our woodworking skills are basic DIY – we've built sheds and summerhouses but would like some info on what we should expect from a project like this and what your thoughts are about choice of boat for our requirements.

Hope you can help.

That's a nice dream!

Everyone you talk to will give you a different answer. If you're tendency is to craftsmanship, I'm sure you can build a Caledonian Yawl, but might benefit from building something simpler first. If it isn't, I'd suggest you don't even go there!

I'd also say that by the time they're teenagers, your kids are unlikely to want to sail with Dad, and probably not for days at a time – your kids may be different but my experience is that what they enjoy most is being skipper of their own ship in the company of others in similar boats. That way, they don't have to follow orders or watch Dad do the interesting stuff, and they can race each other, chase each other, play at capsizing, flirt and all the rest of the stuff kids that age do. If you want them to be interested in boating and particularly sailing long term, I think the best advice is to find a sailing club that does this sort of thing well.

I should add that home built boats are for individualists, which counts out most teenage kids.

So if you would like to dabble in the noble art of boatbuilding, I'd suggest making something simple that you'll never regret owning and which will add a fun dimension to picnics on the river or to the seaside. I'm thinking of a lightweight little rowing boat like the Ella by the way!

Hope that helps a little and doesn't seem too partial!

Not sure if anyone can help but I'm looking to build a model of bawley cockler. Does anyone know where I can get plans to achieve this.

Thank you all in appreciation.

Great website and info. Are you selling plans for a large (or small) scale model of the Iain Oughtred designed St. Ayles Skiff? This was the one that Alec Jordan built for the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project (as seen in Water Craft magazine Jan/Feb 2010). I'm located in the United States.

God bless and many thanks,

I'm sorry Jimmy – I don't sell plans, at least not currently. Check my posts for a link to the Jordan site and ask him. He might be persuaded that the St Ayles skiff is now such a celebrity that he could successfully model kits.

Actually, my guess is that some good models would make great trophies…

Hi, I've been trying to download the free plans for the flying mouse without success.Can anyone please sent me a copy that I can just print off.Thanks most appreciated.

Happy to do it.

I'm delighted you're building one of these boats. Please keep in touch – I'll be pleased to help in any way I can.

If the added weight is no problem to you, then it won't trouble the designer!

The only thing I'd say is that I've never needed laminated such a large area and if I did so I'd want to know (i) how to eliminate bubbles and (ii) how to make sure those that do creep in are there are well sealed.

The second part may be easy – perhaps all you have to do is to make sure you coat both sides of the joint well, I suppose, but the first part is something that would make me turn to the forums for advice from someone who has done it a few times.

i found by accident some plans for a 16` launch, from a book about the ww2, is it possible to look at these some where on the site? hope you can help. regards julian

I'd like to help Julian – but can you tell me anything more about the boat you're looking for? What was it that interested you? Was there a link to some plans? Did it have accommodation?

hello gavin hope you ok ,i am still trying to find out about this motor launch, the plans are in a book you mentioned,is it possible to get a copy or any chance of a copy, regards julian

All the information about this boat that appears in the book is in the post. If you found the particular edition of the Motor Boat Manual concerned (I can't remember which it is), you would not have any more information.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am project secretary to Students Health HOme the largest student CBO/NGO in India. We are contemplating to start a mobile waterway health service in the Sunderbans for students. It would be highly convenient if you can help with some low cost boat plans for the purpose

thanking you

Dr. Amit Shankar Jana

I have written to you directly.

I need a flat bottom dolly boat design could you please make one?

yours sincerly David Doyle

I'm sorry but I don't understand the request. What's a dolly boat? Or do you mean boat dolly?

Thanks, Gavin

Hello Gavin, I have started to build a Barton Skiff and would love to put sails to this boat, please could you suggest a simple rig that I could use as I think it would set my boat off. Maybe also could you suggest the position of the mast.

Kind Regards,

I'm delighted to hear that you're building this boat, and would very much like to follow your progress and provide whatever help seems to be required. Where are you?

However, the Barton skiff is really not intended to be a sailer – it's got the wrong kind of hull, particularly for upwind sailing.

Also, I'd strongly suggest joining the gmaboatbuilders yahoogroup and reading through the experiences of Brian and Charles, who have both built the Barton skiff, and the correspondence will include some useful bits of advice.

Of course, you could always have a small mast with cross trees if it tickles your fancy. Add nav lights and it would have real purpose…

Gavin, I am on the North coast of Northern Ireland, from a small town called Coleraine about 5 minutes from the sea. I like the sound of the mast about 9 ft as my lathe has a 3 ft bed and I would turn it in three sections and have two cross members one at 3 ft and the bottom one at 5 ft with a cool red sail. I am a carpenter by trade so the woodwork side should be sorted. I am finishing all gunwales and finishing work with Mahogany and varnish with a green hull so it should be the best looking boat sitting in our bay. This all sounds good anyway.

Kind Regards

Sorry to bother you again as I have just realised that sailing this boat will not work ( you can tell I am a novice ). Your idea about a small mast, nav lights sounds real good so I think I will run with that. Work is progressing well.

Many Thanks,

Gavin, where would you position the small mast and what size, diameter etc do you think would look good. Hope to get some photos soon, the delay has been because daughter took my camera of to University and left us without one.

Oh my gosh… Attached to the forward bulkhead, three times as high as the sheer, maybe 4 (side to side) by 5in (fore and aft) tapering to 4 by 4 or 3.5 by 3.5 from the front or back to taste, with a small cross tree about two thirds of the way from the sheeline to the top. That's my first guess, based on (an easy place to site it) and the rule of threes that works for most things!

I've just remembered that you want to hang a sail from this mast – so forget the cross tree, make the dimensions an inch thicker each way, and make the mast about 10-12ft high. What sort of sail are you thinking of? I'd suggest a spritsail, or maybe a squaresail. You will of course need a rudder too!

There's a fair amount of geometry involved in placing a sailing rig, so I guess this will be a largely downwind sail.

Hi Gavin, just to let you know I have started to sheet the hull and things are getting exiting to see the shape come together.

regards Andrew

Bloody marvellous. Please stay in close touch!

Gavin, Have finished sheeting bottom of hull and today before weather turned real bad I laminated Mahogany and Ash strips to the transom on the outside and it looks real good. Hope to sand down tomorrow and coat with epoxy to seal then finish the hull with ply before Xmas. Have set my launch date for Easter in Portrush so will be busy after Xmas. Bought an outboard last week and an engineering friend is stripping and rebuilding it for me and also restoring the paintwork to make as new. It is a small vintage 4 stroke as I do love working with old motors.

Andrew McNeill ( barton skiff builder)

I Have Just purchased a 1947 king Cruiserall original hardware , it needs tlc , i am looking for some basic plans to guid me on this restoration adventure , can you help , or direct me to somewhare i might find info .thanks robert

I came to this site to answer the trunnell boat query, but noticed this page. With another hat on I run the Eventide Owners Group website.

We have a host of practical seaworthy craft drawings available, designed by Gibbs, Buchanan and Griffiths, plus others, many have sailed far and wide.

We pass on to anyone in our group, the drawings of all our boats , and membership is free, you just have to enrol. Each is on a CD and we do this at cost, £5.00 inc P&P UK and a little more for overseas.

Visit the site to see more, we just want to keep these designs alive!

Regards, John Williams website coordinator, Eventide Owners Group.

Hello Gavin, my Barton skiff is now finished and is being launched this weekend. Iam so proud of her and I think she looks wonderful. I went with small mast and I added my own thoughts of what I wanted to make her look like. I will send photos and hopefully speak soon. Many thanks, Andrew

Hi Gavin, well here I go again. I am thinking of building the Bluestone Schooner this winter as I am getting a berth in Portrush harbour and I think she will be the boat for me. Do I just download the plans again or can you send me a copy? Many thanks Andrew McNeill

what a marvellous site. intend retiring to goa next year or so,i am a retired joiner so i fancy building a boat for fishing in goa, any advice and plans would be gratefully recieved. reg jeff

Great Site. I am considering building a canoe or small boat. Preference is for a paddler, but I might also attach a sail on occasion. Usage would be on lakes, and such. I doubt we would ever carry more than an ice chest. Most common use would be fishing and wildlife watching. Would the Cinderella be too small for tandem use at only 12 feet.

The Cinderella is a great, fun little boat, but is definitely a one person canoe, unless those involved are about 11 years old!

Hi Gavin! I am looking to build a waterwag! I have a really old mold but am looking for plans so I can make this one lighter. I will have it professionally made so I dont think the complexity of the plans should be an issue. Do you know where I could get these plans?

Many Thanks Congratulations on a fantastic website.

I’d start by contacting the Water Wags class people – they have a web presence here: http://www.rsgyc.ie/sailing/class/category/water_wags

I think I also remember that there are lines drawings in Dixon Kemp, but I don’t recall how much detail is included.

Hi, i´m studying to become a boat builder, and as part of my first exam i want to make a stitch and glue project. I have three weeks of around 35 hours. I was wondering if you could advice me if building the sailing skiff in that time, could be possible. I have somewhat novice skills working with wood, but I am adept at powertools in general and have worked a lot with glasfiber and epoxy shaping, sanding, finishing etc. Hope to hear from you. Anders, Denmark.

I don’t think so – the rig alone would take up that much time! You could possibly build a little paddler or rower in that time, but I think it would have to be rough and ready.

Hi Gav, I grew up in a boatshed, as a professional fisherman and surfing on the east coast of Australia. Now I know this question is relative can be related to experience and how much discomfort you are prepared to tolerate, and in that if you have no choice but die or punch 40 footers, you could probably sail a grand banks dory leeched and yawled up if you had to and were lucky, but as a 55 yo guy whose trade was made redundant by computers and then left stitched up by a divorce that cleaned me out soon after, what would the smallest sailing vessel boat you would advise for solo crossing oceans and global circumnavigations. Of course I’d love an Old maid of kent or 59 foot schooner but it aint gonna happen. Well not instantly and I’m not getting any younger. I’ve made fine violins I got good brass for and am exceptional with timber/lumber, and worked in a loft, slip and sail makers years ago in my teens, so with the right project, in drip fed expenditure, a good book to revise, I could possibly fulfill a dream, and without going into too much detail could use the morale boost of an adventure and perhaps something beautiful to pack up and live on as well. So what sailing craft would fulfill these criteria given restrictions as to where shes lofted up in your opinion please?. I did read of a Dutchman sailing a kayak from Holland to Australia by coast hugging and Island vaults but was hoping to up the ante just a touch with something extremely seaworthy and comfortable to live on alone or two up (spooning:), but the smaller it is the more likely I can accommodate it successfully. You got a magic wand to go with that slide rule handy ? 🙂 Thanks for your input.

Gavin; I have your book ulUltra simple boat building. I would love to build a Mini mouse. Are more detailed plans available or must I make do with what is in the book? By the way I loved the book. Larry

Any plans for a simple version of a gondola or sandalo? It doesn’t have to be asymetrical, but it has to look like a gondola or a sandalo, and be capable of being rowed venetian style–facing forward with a single oar in a forcola oarlock.

I don’t know of any I’m sorry to say. It would be fun to find some though!

Good morning, I am interested in building a small clinker launch aproximately 5 mtrs in length I have searched for plans as of yet to no avail. Can you recommend any plans or where I can obtain them. Thankyou

This may be the best I can offer you at present: https://intheboatshed.net/2008/11/04/drawings-for-a-16ft-motor-launch/

You might consider lengthening it by 10 per cent or so. Would that give you the size you need?

G’day.Just saw Greig Traynor’s request & suggest he look at the very successful designs on Sydney Australia’s David Payne on his website at:www.payneyachts.com.I have seen a number of finished boats of all sizes from David’s drawing board & they look & work great.

There are plenty of photos on the web including a slightly stretched version of the sort of design Greig is looking for,with a small cuddly cab fitted,on Ross Lillistone’s website at baysidewoodenboats.com.au.

They can be built traditionally or as glued lapstrake.

Al Burke ( Cinderella)

btw,the bloke who bought cinders contacted me a while ago to say he has just repainted her same colour & still fishes out of her.He owns a restaurant on the Central Coast of NSW just north of Sydney.

That’s all great stuff. Thanks Allan!

Gavin, I’m looking at building a boat for the first time. I have minimal wood working experience, a dog house, simple stage sets, a few catapults 🙂 . I have built lots of r/c airplanes over the years so I should be able to work from plans. It doesn’t need to be “one boat to rule them all” or anything, just a small row boat, preferably car top able to get me started. Also needs to easally accommodate 250-300 pounds and handle some lake chop. I’m just guessing, but I’d say 12-18 inches peak to trough, maybe not even that much. Later I plan on building a yawl or wherry for rowing, and an outboard skiff ( maybe v bottom ) in the 15-20 foot range for taking the family out. Seriously considering the Ella or Field and Stream skiffs. If you have other recommendations I’d be glad to hear them.

That’s ngreat to hear and good luck with your project. I’d say the Ella would be simplest and most worked out.

Thank you! Hope to get started soon. Rowing the broken down loaner John boats at my local lake is not all that much fun. At least gets me out on the water for now.

You’ll find that even the the little Ella will take you to a completely different place. the Sunny and Julie even more so.

Hi Gavin, I really like your Ella sailing skiff design, but I was looking for a way to use less plywood. Would it work to use oak wood frames and only have plywood for the sections that need buoyancy frame 5 and 2, and leaving out the forward and aft side buoyancy tanks? Would this work or would this not provide enough buoyancy add to much weight?

Weight wise it would be fine. I /think/ the built in buoyancy is about right – include less and you may find she’s a lot harder to bail. Why is economising on plywood important to you?

There’s a few reasons, for one, I have never built a boat, haven’t sailed, but have been on boats before, motor and row, so I don’t know what is a necessity, and what is a luxury.

Another reason is I’m trying to find the most amount of boat for the least amount of money that can take a couple people and gear along the gulf of Mexico on nice days. I want to use it to search around the keys, and on the rivers and lakes, but mostly as a boat I can car top or trail, take to the beach and learn to sail with near the beach. The waters on the gulf are choppy, but mostly calm, the waves are a foot or less most days, but can get to 3 or 4 on occasion.

Also, marine ply is tougher to find and solid woods are found in any hardware store.

I’ve looked at the Julie and light trow mk2, would any these work for what I want to do?

I’m delighted by your interest in the Ella, the Julie and the Light Trow.

These are great questions. What you’re proposing is sea sailing in a small boat. With that in mind I’d advocate starting by going sailing of the kind you’d like to do with someone experienced – there may be someone locally who does that stuff. Certainly there are things to learn in order to do it safely. Around the Gulf of Mexico, you’re not /that/ far from Chuck Leinweber, originator of Duckworks, and he might know someone. There may also be clubs and associations…

Designers design-in the details of their plans for a reason and changing them is best done by the experienced. For example, the small bouyancy boxes in the sides of the Ella are there to make sure that the dinghy floats high enough to come up without too much water inside when righted after a capsize. You might prefer not to have them – but I’d want to right the little boat from a few capsizes before I decided they were unnecessary. Some people might feel that way – they may even feel that those spaces would be better used as handy pockets for bits of line etc, but I think you’d want to know for sure before making the change.

I think most folks who design boats will make the same kind of point.

Good luck with sailing and boat building!

PS – they may even know where to get good ply! Actually, you might think about joining the Duckworks Facebook group and asking whether there’s anyone local who would be happy to give you some on the water time…

Gavin, I am hoping to construct a simple boat like the Light Dinghy shown above. can you send me a better copy of the drawing so that I can use it as a line plan.

Gavin, was looking for plans to the Lilypad punt. Any blogs or posts of users and where they use them? I’m in American Midwest.

It’s in the book only, I’m afraid.

Hi all, This is a scale modeller’s cry for help, please bear with me. Does anyone by chance happen to have plans and/or schematics for Uffa Fox’s AIrborne Lifeboat Mk.II? Haven’t been able to find something detailed yet. Any help highly appreciated! Thank you!

Gavin – do you know where I can obtain plans for a full-size bateau boat? One that was used to transport goods down river. The only plans that I can find are for smaller versions. Thanks, Jim

The largest I’ve seen is the one published in one of Pete Culler’s books. From memory I think that was in the 18-20ft range.

Hello from Nova Scotia Canada , looking for Aurette plans if anyone knows please give a shout . Thanks from Bob [email protected]

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5) Boat Building Secrets

This e-book discusses  boat building tips , tricks, and ideas for beginners and experienced craftsmen. It answers hundreds of questions covering fundamental and practical details of building boats. Various construction techniques of experienced boat builders have been explained in a step by step easy to implement manner.

6) Boat Safety and Regulations

This book is a must-read as it covers applicable regulations that boat builders must comply with. It covers different regulations based on  boat type , engine, usage, and length.  Compliance guidelines  for fuel systems, electrical systems, loading, capacity, ventilation, and information flotation requirement have been discussed thoroughly.

Boat Building Plans Price - Is it Worth Your Money?

After learning about the features and legitimacy of Boat Building Plans, you must be wondering whether this package is within your reach or not?

So we have good news because you will be pleased to hear that this whole package with 518 boat designs and 40 video tutorials comes at a very affordable price of $47 only.

In addition to this, you will get 5 free bonuses worth $252.85. And still, if this doesn’t work for you then you can get your money back with 60-days money back guarantee !

This boat building plan by Martin Reid is not a child’s play but a real deal for turning your imagination into a real invention. If you buying access right now, you can get free bonuses along with all the elements that we have mentioned in the package. So why not give it a try and turn your dreams into reality by building a picture-perfect boat?

Boat Building Plans Reviews

Here are just a few  testimonials out of thousands of satisfied customers of Boat Building Plans. Visit Boat Building Plans Pricing , to purchase the boat building blueprint bundle.  For any queries, find the  frequently asked questions  here .  We feel blessed when we hear about such outstanding results. Help us improve by sharing your feedback good or bad after the purchase.

Racing Sparrow Plans

Check out these plans and resources, ranging from a 375mm boat to a 1500mm yacht. Pair these with our eBook guide for a fast, easy, and affordable home build RC yacht.

RS-RG65 - 650mm plans, measures to international RG65 rules

A full forward hull and a straight stern. This boat has proven to be a very fast and competitive racer.

Free Book Sample - PDF

A few pages from the eBook absolutely free

Racing Sparrow 750 plans

The plans that come with the eBook.

Racing Sparrow 1000 plans

A one metre version, scaled up lines. Bulkhead only plans. Look at the 750 for full schematics.

Racing Sparrow 1500 plans - A scaled up Racing Sparrow

A larger size model yacht. I haven't seen many of these surface. It's a good challenge to build.

Racing Sparrow 375 plans - The smallest sparrow

A miniature RacingSparrow. A great introduction to building with balsa.

RacingSparrow Footy plans

A double diagonal design footy from RacingSparrow.

Logos & Sticker Sheet

Downloadable logos and an EPS file to be sent to a printer and printed out on navy blue cutout vinyl.

Common questions about the plans

What tools do i need to build a racingsparrow.

1. Chisel 2. Craft-knife 3. Drill Bit - 2mm (5/64in)bit 4. Drill Bit - 5mm (3/16in) bit 5. Electric Drill 6. Felt Marker 7. File 8. Hacksaw 9. Hammer 10. Hole Punch 11. Lighter 12. Pen 13. Pencil 14. Pins 15. Pliers 16. Ruler (steel) 17. Sanding Block 18. Scissors 19. Screwdriver 20. Spirit Level (optional) 21. Sponge Brush (several) 22. Vice Grips

Do I need the eBook to build this cool rc sailboat?

No you don't. The book is designed for the newcomer to model yacht building. The book does make it a much simpler process with every detail figured out and covered in the book. Seasoned builders can simply have a go with the free plans.

Are the plans really free?

Yes all the plans are free to download and use as you see fit. The most comprehensive plans are the RS750 A1 full size.

Are there CAD files or 3D files?

Yes there is a 3D dxf file inside a zip file that you can download for free and use how you want. Some people use this in CAD programs or in 3D modelling programmes to great effect. Look under Racing Sparrow 750 plans on this page. An STL file for 3D printing is in the pipelines. Email me if you want a copy.

While we think 3D printing is great, we believe old-skool strip planking balsa is a wonderfully simple way to make a very lightweight boat with excellent longitudinal strength and beauty.

Builders eBook

Dive into the world of boat building with our eBook. Discover the craft of hull planking, fibreglass strengthening, and lead keel ballast casting.

Master the art of electrics installation, spray painting, sail making, and tuning of sails. Download a sample today and embark on a rewarding journey of boat construction.

What the builders and sailors say:

Being a complete novice, I purchased your book a couple of years ago and built two racing sparrows. Building on this experience I then went on to build, from scratch, an IOM (Triple Crown design). I've since joined a local club and sail virtually every weekend. I would just like to thank you for your endeavours which have allowed me to enter a world I never thought was in my reach.

John Sterland, Australia

Coming upon your book, "Build your own Radio Controlled Yacht" in the Napier Public Library, I am hugely impressed. The combination of your superb photos and illustrations with your easy writing style make it a standout publication and I hope it does well for you.

Richard Spence, New Zealand

Thanks for an excellent design in your RG65. I trialled her again today in a solid 20 knots gusting higher. Even so in a steep chop and fingers off the rudder she drove upwind remarkably well, balanced perfectly. Very impressed that a model boat can handle that with a large rig. I found the book excellent. Ive built several big boats, plus a few skiffs and without that resource building such a good boat would have been impossible.

Mike Bennett

Look at all these cool boats folk have made at home

There is also a full gallery with a boat load of photos of Racing Sparrow's

Fanie Nel - RS750 , Krugerdorp, South Africa

Apr 5, 2023

Little RS375

Mar 9, 2006

Racing Sparrow 750 - Plumridge , Vienna, Austria

Oct 19, 2012

Miss Sunshine, RS750 by Terry Plumridge from Vienna Austria. Built for his wife Gertraud. Terry writes "Firstly thanks for writing your book, it introduced me to building from plans, and plank on frame construction, both of which I enjoyed tremendously."

Royal Declerk's cool Multi-Hull , Australia

Jun 11, 2015

Dear Bryn, I felt I had to tell you, my beautiful 75, "Jack Sparrow" got away from me due to a radio malfunction and sailed off into the distance across Port Phillip bay to be not heard of again, probably on its way to China?? so have made three land yachts for the grandchildren, sail them at Sandy Point ( Gippsland)

My latest model is a foiling catamaran based on the AC45 (another brilliant NZ design)(very sad to see NZ beaten in the cup) and so "Black Mamba" has evolved.

Yet to do sea trials but if it works as intended will be amazing. Best wishes from Royal Declerck.

Andy Saunders + Son , New Zealand

Sep 9, 2021

Jerry Cashman's RS750 , Canberra, Australia

Nov 26, 2022

Hello! Here a couple of pix of my Sparrow. She’s been finished for a year or so now but the lockdowns has kept her out of the water largely.

She’s a beaut. Sails beautifully on just the lightest air. Thanks for the design! 

Budi Santoso , Indonesia

Apr 4, 2019

John Goodyear with his RacingSparrow 750 , United Kingdom

Nov 27, 2010

Kendal Allcott , Nelson, New Zealand

Feb 11, 2010

Rod Patterson , Christchurch, New Zealand

May 4, 2012