Free sailboat plans?
 

Hello,

I'm looking for some boat plans for a small (18-24 feet) sailboat.
Something I can sail by myself but is strong enough to take on short blue
water trips. It should sleep 4. Plywood construction.

I've found some plans for boats which would work. One extra fancy one
is called the Vagabond 23.

A more realistic one is called the Pelican

Still another called the Elver which looks easy and cheap to build.

Before I go spending money on plans I hoped I might find some free
examples by mining places like this. Can anyone point me in the right
direction? So far all i've found in the free price range is silly bucket
boats and flat bottomed toy sailboats.

I'm not against paying for plans. But I would want to be sure there
are lots of success stories for a set of plans, Online, the vagabond 23
seems to have a lot of success stories. I was able to find lots of built
hulls and plenty of in-progress photos telling me that this is a project
that can be completed as advertised.


Enjoy!
Cruise

(MrCruise) wrote in
:


Hello,

I'm looking for some boat plans for a small (18-24 feet) sailboat.
Something I can sail by myself but is strong enough to take on short
blue
water trips. It should sleep 4. Plywood construction.

I've found some plans for boats which would work. One extra fancy
one
is called the Vagabond 23.

A more realistic one is called the Pelican

Still another called the Elver which looks easy and cheap to build.

Before I go spending money on plans I hoped I might find some free
examples by mining places like this. Can anyone point me in the right
direction? So far all i've found in the free price range is silly
bucket
boats and flat bottomed toy sailboats.

I'm not against paying for plans. But I would want to be sure there
are lots of success stories for a set of plans, Online, the vagabond 23
seems to have a lot of success stories. I was able to find lots of
built
hulls and plenty of in-progress photos telling me that this is a
project
that can be completed as advertised.

Enjoy!
Cruise


Try Stevenson Projects, been in business a long time, and literally
hundreds of their boats can be found everywhere. Very nice looking and
easy construction. My personal favorite is their 'Weekender'.

http://www.stevproj.com/

Also Glen-L has a good reputation, but your 'Bluewater' requirement might
be a bit much for their boats.

http://www.glen-l.com

g'Luk


--
Didereaux
"Let bygones be bygones...send a concilliatory PRETZEL to the
Whitehouse!"
"Against stupidity, the very gods themselves contend in vain." -
Friedrich von Schiller
"Ignorant voracity -- a wingless vulture -- can soar only into the depths
of ignominy." Patrick O'Brian

Didereaux wrote:

(MrCruise) wrote in
:


Hello,

I'm looking for some boat plans for a small (18-24 feet)
sailboat.
Something I can sail by myself but is strong enough to take on
short
blue
water trips. It should sleep 4. Plywood construction.

Try Stevenson Projects, been in business a long time, and literally
hundreds of their boats can be found everywhere. Very nice looking and

easy construction. My personal favorite is their 'Weekender'.

http://www.stevproj.com/


Wow, thats an excellent looking project boat! Thanks for the link.
Certainly simpler than any of the other boats I've looked at. I like their
approach to sails and rigging. You could certainly replace most rigging at
walmart.

Enjoy!
Cruise

www.boat-links.com

I don't know if you can still look at the plans directory at
www.duckworksmagazine.com for free. you can look at the plans for sale
from the desingers whose plans they resell. the link to Gavin Atkins
website will hve free plans on it but they are likely all small boats.

interested in plywood catamarans?
www.jonesboats.com has some


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

try:

http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=SailBoats/Gypsy

Didereaux wrote:
Try Stevenson Projects, been in business a long time, and literally
hundreds of their boats can be found everywhere. Very nice looking
and
easy construction. My personal favorite is their 'Weekender'.

http://www.stevproj.com/


He said Bluewater . . .
The Week-ender is unballasted and top heavy.

Don't compare that with the Vagabond 23. The VG23 is the successor of
the Serpentaire, a boat with many ocean crossings and some
circumnavigations on its palmares.
http://www.boatplans-online.com/prod....php?prod=VG23

He might build the "Vacationer" from Stevenson Projects and then
eventually go to a more ambitious project before doing any real
"Bluewater". I built tow of the Stevenson Projects "MiniCup"
daysailors and have been very pleased.

MrCruise wrote:
When I said short bluewater trips, I mean short blue water trips. To me,
this means fair weather runs to the reef 7 miles off shore from where I
live (Daytona Beach area).

The term "blue water" sailing means different things to different
people. To my mind, the phrase summons up images of certain household
cleaning products; but many people will indignantly insist that it means
'sailing around Cape Horn' or some such.

I would call your excursion 'open water day sailing' since you will not
be away from a sheltered harbor more than 14 hours, most likely much less.


... I like to fish out there and it's just scary
doing it in Frankenboat, my 14ft aluminum johnboat.

The vacationmer and weekender seem like easy projects for this type of
use. Or am I overestimating it's abilities?

I'd estimate the Stevenson Projects boat as less capable, weather &
sea-condition wise, than your johnboat. They are unballasted flat-iron
skiffs with added weight, and most of that up high where it's harmful.

They are cool looking but a bad choice IMHO for exposure to serious or
risky sailing. Of course, with added positive flotation, they'll at
least keep you from having to swim home, so they can't be all bad ;)

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Several boats come to mind although they are definitely more difficult to
build than the Weekender.

1. George Buehler's POGO. This is a little daysailor that will do nicely
for the use mentioned. it is small and built with plywood and easily
available materials. It is a cute boat that should be fun to sail but it is
also ballasted and is a durn sight more boat than it seems. The down side
is the plans are not free but you got a lot of question answering from
George.

2. Sam Devlin has a couple of small sail boats that are stitch and glue
design. His boats finish nicely and the boats that I have seen at the
Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend are good sailors. Sam also has a book
that is helpful in the building.

3. on the Goodchild site is a little boat called a mini MORC racer from the
late 50's. I love this little boat and it is made for ocean racing so it
can take quite a lot. It is of course a lot more to build but should be
within the ability of a first timer if you take your time on it.

Of course if you look around you can find a reasonable number of small to
medium size day sailors that are for sale and the cost is likely less than
you would pay for building one of these.

Brian