Last weekend at the Gunpowder regetta here on the Chesapeak I got a good look at the F16's racing while on the RC for the first time as we had (4) of them here competing.

They are AWESOME!!! Now I haven't been able to afford a new boat and up-grade from my TheMightyHobie18 or P19MX due to initial $$$$'s and my personal lack of $$$$'s. But I was VERY impressed.

Did I understand that you can build your own F16? I grew up on wooden boats (and fixing them)... and am still infatuated w/ wooden boats. Now I can come up with little sums of $$$$'s, piece meal as it were ... I am fairly good w/ my hands and tools ... have a fairly good shop ... am looking for a winter project ... so I'm curious ... can you build a F16??? What does it take? What plans do you use? How much would it cost? Could you guys help me out?

Looking to up-grade
HarryMurphey
H18mag/P19MX

Yes, you can home build an F16...

Formula 16 Homebuild page

Absolutly you can, Plans for the Blade you can get from Phill Brander, or Taipan plans from AHPC. Plans cost around AUD$250 (but contact the above to be certain)

How you are talking about building in pieces is exactly how I've did mine because the cash flow then was a bit slow, it took longer than I had planned, working away from home etc, but I couldn't be happier with my boat and the way it performs.

I should say at this point, that mone is not an F16, but could be, if I added the kite.

A search through the forum will show lots of discussion on homebuilding, and check TonyJ's a couple of threads down or Rolfs in the homebuild forum at the bottom of the main index.

Regards

Thanks guys,

As I said I was VERY impressed ... I had only seen my friend's boats on the beach ... to see them just scooting down wind slicing through the H16 fleet leaving a cloud of spray behind was just AWESOME!!!!

My friends on the Chesapeake Bay have both Taipans and Blades. They have committed to come to the YC I'm a member at for our Rock Hall YC "Annual One-Design Regetta" on June 21st and 22nd ... I think I'll have to arrange to borrow a F16 for a ride (I wonder what my bar tab will be for these favors!!!) I can see why my friends just LOVE their new boats!!! I'll start getting $$$$'s together. I'm a fairly decent wood worker, but my friend Glenn is an EXCEPTIONAL wood worker ... maybe I can convince him to build one also!!!

Question: Do we HAVE to paint it YELLOW like Wouter's ???!!!!

Thanks for helping me get started ... I just need to convince the family I need a THIRD boat!!!

HarryMurphey
TheMightyHobie18/P19MX
(and maybe a F16 in the future)

And while you are at it, maybe you can convince Chessapeak Light Craft (a Kayak kit co.) to come up with a quick build hull kit using the Blade/Taipan plans. They have access to the best marine ply, etc. But you would need to buy the beams, tramp, mast, blocks, cordage, spinnaker gear, sails, etc. but you can order that from Vectorworks.

Think twice get some prices and do some calculations. You don’t save a lot of money by building the hulls and buying the rest. To make the effort worth wile you have to build everything, or still better buy the hulls and build the rest.

New Blade hulls are about $3,200 each, or $6,400 for a set.

I guess if I could build a mast, tramp, sails, blocks, lines, etc. it might be cheaper to buy the hulls and build the rest, but I can't.

Given that most of us cannot realistically build anything but the hulls, I think that is where you -might- save money. I chose to buy mine as time was off the essence.

Rolf, do you have any idea how your Blade will cost when completely ready-to-sail? (Not counting your precious hours obviously).

We are running full accounting on everything going into the boats and we can make this available later on..
I am not too keen to present an estimate now, or publish the numbers later on for that matter. Reason is that we know how and where to get parts really cheap and will do most ourself. This will be reflected in the price like Gato said, but not everybody can build to this price unless they have the same connections and skills!
Our estimate is based on finding Tornado masts for less than US$200.
Hulls built from strip plank, which might be cheaper than ply (will be interesting to find out!)
Homemade sails and trampolines
Homemade foils and rudder system
Buying Riley fittings instead of a more well known brand.
Buying all lines in one go, perhaps abroad, and import them at a discount.
Crossbeams probably made in carbon, as we have access to an industrial source for this project. Actually half the price of buying sections from a spar shop and having them shipped here.
None of this would be possible unless we had connections all over the globe helping us out with advice and parts!
Experience with epoxy/wood/composite.
Access to industrial accounts for fibers and epoxy.
A place to build.
Understanding families.

I dont know if I should publish our estimate.. Might do the class more harm than good. Better to wait until we know for sure I think?

Anyway, if somebody wants to build an F16, I would have began sourcing parts. We began with the masts. The hulls are the easy part to build cheap. Finding all the rest is what will break the bank. If one could buy a derelict or wrecked spi cat from an insurance company it might be a good start.

Timbo,

Very interesting that you mentioned "Chesapeake Light Craft" ... it is a VERY small world ... May I suggest that we "push" really hard for some F16's to come to the Rock Hall YC's "Annual One-Design Event" ... The Commadore this year is a gentleman named Mr Dyer Harris who has a son .... (wait for it) ........ he is the OWNER and PRESIDENT of CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT!!!!!

How's that for a small world!!!!

Help me out here boys!!! ... maybe we can make something happen .... RHYC would really love to award the FIRST trophy for F16's "On the Bay" ... I'll check and see if Dyer's son will be in attendence.

This could work on many levels ....


Rolf,

Do you think that that "broken mast " would work as crossbars ... or should I go talk to Kevin Cook about Carbon???

I'll start "scrounging materials/parts

I'm excited guys ... "pumped"!!!

Sail Flat, Sail Fast
Harry Murphey
H18mag/P19MX

Oh, maybe we could leave the hulls a "Natural Wood" finish?

Dyer and his son built a "Natural finish" Windmill several years ago ... it is really pretty!!!

Harry

Dont rush into it. Just use your eyes and your contacts and see what you can find. There are some really good deals to be made, but you have to wait and look for them. Finding a mast and a boom is a priority, then begin looking for other fittings and foils/ruddersystem etc. But before you do anything, consider how much money you can spend on this! There will be some cash spent on this..

About crossbeams, you wrote:


I think that will do, but Phill, Wouter and others are more qualified to confirm that. Unless you can source carbon at industrial cost price, carbon will probably be more expensive. Finding 90mm diam alu tubes with 1.6mm wallthickness at a good price should be possible.

Parts is something you always can sell again, so you minimize your risk by beginning in that end if you are to do a boat on the cheap. The hulls are a relatively well known quantity.

Hi All

Fortunately for some and not so much for others, the cost of putting a boat on the water that you build yourself, is largely dependent on where you are in the world.

Buying secondhand is the beginning, for a few things or using what you may already have can ease the blow of the starting cost.

This is a few things that saved me big dollars as far as I'm concerned;

Building the hulls, the hulls are I suppose the main ingredient to the overall boat, and the bare hulls are surprisely cheap to build.

I put everything together myself, I bought new beams and a new mast section and all the fittings and put it all together at home.

A Class Trailer - Ebay $50.00

Rudders were the rod push down type that I had on my mosquito.

Centreboards - when Jim Boyer shut shop, I bought my boards from Jim half price as seconds, one is a little heavier than the other and one had some marks in it.

Mainsail - Bought second hand, only a few years old and very lightly used, it is still almost brand new.

Regards

Give Vectorworks a buzz and see if they have a line on used boats. There's bound to be one or two around.

A used boat is almost always the most economical alternative. I dont recommend anybody to build unless their main goal is the process itself, not the results.

I think I did email someone at CLC about a stitch and glue Blade hull kit, I think they said it couldn't be done because of the roundness of the bottom of the hulls. OK, so what about strip planks like a wooden canoe kit? Or perhaps they could come up with a kit for all the formers, wood, tools, epoxy, glass, etc. that you would need to build a TaiPan/Blade type hull?

I'm kind of like my father ... he enjoyed working/modifing the Family cabincruiser more then running it ... it started out as an Express cruiser and ended as a Sedancruiser w/ flying bridge

My issue is I do not have a sum of cash to purchase it (unless I win the lottery) ... but am a pretty good scrounger!!!

I happen to know where there are several bent H16 masts for crossbars?

I spoke to Tony Arrands/RacerX today about sails ... several of the "locals" have asked him if he would make some ... he doesn't have a design currently ... but for multiple sail orders he will!!!

I'm putting the word out for other suitable pieces ... we'll see what I come up with

Sail Flat, Sail Fast
HarryMurphey
H18mag/P19MX

Glenn built one of their kits a couple of years ago ...

And remember if we get Commodore Dyer on our side to "talk it up" w/ his son maybe ....

He does like Glenn and myself ... we have been volunteering for all sorts of assignments/work at RHYC ... I can understand him liking Glenn ... but I'm grumpy, stubborn, hardheaded ... and those are my good qualities!!! Truth be told I've gained alot of pull at the club by bringing my "weedwacker" and keeping the place neat looking, pruning trees, assembling the new "deck furniture" ...

Harry

huh?? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Blade cant be done in ply? I guess that means a Tornado, Mosquito, Dodgy or Tiapan cant either...


*wanders off all dejected* <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

On a positive note I know we could get "flat packs" made up.. With laser cut ply forms ready to stick/glue/tape.. Ikea for boat building..

I kind of like the "flat packs" idea. Even better, IMHO, would be the idea of setting up an open-source design. Have design data on a server somewhere which could be downloaded by a prospective builder -- including CAD files for the forms, etc. Folks could download, modify, build, submit ideas for improvements, etc. It seems like a natural fit for a development class whose members like to sail and try things together, and race with a spirit of camaraderie rather than cutthroat competitiveness.

Of course, it would have to be done in a "clean room" environment: nobody involved should have worked with Blade plans, for example. The rights of the commercial designers should certainly be respected. This would be an entirely separate entity if it were to happen.

Or has someone already proposed this and it sank?