Conference unifix::sailing

Try contacting any company whose hull design and construction you like.  Most
of them will sell hull or hull-and-deck-attached at some price less than a 
whole boat.  There are some exceptions:  Peter Duff probably won't sell you
a Stone Horse hull alone at any price, and the huge assembly line firms (O'Day
and the like) may not be able to break the line economically to do so.

It's a less-travelled route, but:  Some folks have taken is to buy or rent the
molds for a hull you like which is out of production.  You can hire experienced
help to all or part of building a hull for yourself, and if the person doing
the glassing really does have the qualifications, the end result can be very
satisfying. The more preparation the mold needs, the lower the price.  Some
folks get use of one for free, since they'll have to fix it up some anyway. 

John.

re .1
Two interesting suggestions!!
I'm a little leery (sp?) of the general contracting efforts involved inthe
second alternative but your first suggestion I'll definitely try. Many thanks!!
Who knows, we might even end up with a Bristol 32.

Basically what we've thought about doing is getting a hull-and-deck and slapping
the sailing hardware and rig on it and sailing with basically no interior the
first season. For the interior, we've thought about going to an architect
(naval) to help with the design and plans that I would then install. 


ED

Check the classified ads at the back of SAIL, CRUISING WORLD, etc. There
are a number of companies offering kits at various stages of completion.
Rawson in Virginia has a 30' sloop, for example. 

Comments, though. With the depressed state of the used boat market, I
would think that you could buy a used boat in good condition for quite a
bit less than what completing and equipping a kit boat would cost you.
There are many, many reasonably priced boats in the 28 to 32 foot range
available -- early Pearsons, Alberg 30s, Seawinds, etc. 

Unless your craftsmanship is at least equal to that of the mass 
production builders (Hunter, Catalina, etc), you may have difficulty 
selling the boat for enough to recover your costs. There is also a 
potential legal risk. You as the builder may be liable for any defects 
in construction.

Don't underestimate the time required to finish a boat. I'm always 
dismayed by how long simple projects take. I have found that planning 
how to do something right is 25 to 50 percent of the total project time. 
A couple of thousand hours is, I would suggest, not an unreasonable 
estimate for the finish work on a 32' boat. I looked at an owner-built 
40' cutter last summer (he even laid up the hull). Nicely done for the 
most part, but it took him seven years. There were even at first glance 
a few things that obviously hadn't enough thought (but this is true of a 
lot of builder-built boats also). I have also seen an owner-built boat 
that no one in his/her right mind would buy.

You can make some surprisingly major modifications to a production boat 
for a moderate investment in time and materials. We have made many minor 
modifications to our boat that have greatly increased its comfort, 
liveability, and safety. There are a number of good books available on 
this subject.

Alan

re #3: I agree with this completely.  A few years ago I looked into precisely
the situation in which you described: the best (new) boat for the dollar.  The
trouble was then (and probably still is), was financing was next to impossible,
insurance was uncertain/costly, and re-sell was problematic.  I was looking intopurchasing a so-called second from Heritage Yachts (remember Charlie Morgan?)

So what did I do?  Nothing for a while.  Finally, I bought a smaller boat with
hopes that I could move up to what I really wanted in a couple of years.

But the real lesson I learned was this: I purchased an unfinished cape with
the idea that I would finish the 2nd story and basement over time.  To be
sure, the house was a good buy.......but I completely underestimated the time
it would take to complete even the simpliest tasks, such as framing.  And the
start-up costs were not inexpensive either.  Purchasing building supplies was
one thing, but the purchase of specialized tools proved quite costly.  I also
discovered that working on the house wasn't as much a labor of love as I had
imagined (maybe houses are one thing and boats are quite another, but I'm not
so sure!).  Finally, this:  I like skiing, canoeing, and sailing - and for a
time, I wasn't doing any of these things - just working on the #@$%&!# house.

Post mortem: I am sailing these days and ignoring the war zone in my basement

until another day (maybe next fall).  Perhaps this experience with a house
applies to you in building a boat.  I learned that I love sailing and I like
working with my hands - but when you work 40hrs a week - I still rather be
sailing (on a smaller boat).

Regards,

Burned-out home owner

In 1983, my ex and I completed a Southern Cross 31 from a hull and
deck kit from Ryder (I think now they're calling the kit boats 
Gilmers after the architect.)  We started planning in 1977 and 
purchased the kit in 1980.  I didn't keep track of the hours we put
in, but we both had full time jobs so we spent practically every
weeknight and at least a day and a half of every weekend working
on the boat.  The cost of the finished boat was about $40,000
(we got a lot of free teak) and one marriage.