I have seen or read a few more than once times, about home built cats. Is this so? or am I crazy? How hard is it build a cat at your home? is this one of those crazy weekend warrior projects? maybe a walk into Home Depot and buy everything and put it together project? Is there any online source that can help with measurements, and specifics for beach cat building?

or am I just crazy thinking about it? Last night when I arrived at my house, I actually measured my garage, it measures roughly 19 feet long, so if I were to do something like this it would have to be smaller than 19 feet. Anyone else interested in this idea?

Go to the Formula 14 forum -- some people are talking about building their own. One thread with some good building information there is titled, "Want to help design the next F14?"

In the early days of the A-Class, a lot of people built Unicorns in their garages. The boat is 18 feet long. Sorry, but I can't remember anymore where to get the plans. I think plans for various boats may be available through Gougeon Bros. If not, they at least have a mountain of information available for how to build boats of all kinds. Their web site is www.gougeon.com. Give them a call if you don't see what you need at the site.

Do you want to spend time in your garage or on the water?
Do you think you can build a light, strong, fast boat?
Do you think you can build a boat that you can trust you and your families life to?
What kind of re-sale value would your boat have?

You could easily spend as much money on parts as what a good used boats would cost you.

Do you want to spend time in your garage or on the water? sadly I do spend more time in the garage than in the water.
Do you think you can build a light, strong, fast boat? light I dunno, stron yes, fast, we'll see.
Do you think you can build a boat that you can trust you and your families life to? yep
What kind of re-sale value would your boat have? dont really care much for a resale value, the value is at "I built this project with my hands"

You could easily spend as much money on parts as what a good used boats would cost you. Yeahup this is a very true statements that applies to everything in life. But its diferent when you actually build it yourself from scratch

From the Ol Boat Builder: I've built 'em and I've bought em.
Bought is better: Reason- If you've sailed something long enough to know what is right about a boat and what isn't, well, than that is a horse of a different color.

Otherwise- sad story follows: A good friend built a plywood "Hobie cat" out of 1/4 inch plywood against my strong suggestion: granted it was to spend time with a male teen-aged child. This was rather than going sailing with me on my plastic cat that actually worked (numerous offers were made).
Short story: I think saw it in the lake once, never saw it sailed, left behind when they moved as junk. Looked terrible.

PS: For my first boat- the plywood skins were put on the frame by my dad. I was 15 and had lost interest in this INTERMIDABLY LONG job: at least I then painted and glassed it- and still have it!

I think you guys miss the point -- some people really ENJOY building things themselves. When we were at a lake up in the Edmonton, Alberta area one year we met an old guy who for years had built a Unicorn in his garage every winter and sold them to friends. Eventually they had a pretty good fleet of them there.

And, Robi, if you want advice on how to build a cold-molded wood boat, contact John Rogers, who builds the Shark catamarans. He builds usually one, sometimes two, a winter at his home at Lake Canandaigua, NY. They have a big fleet of Sharks now on that lake, and most of them are his "babies." John's e-mail address is [email][email protected].[/email]

Robi,
The first 16t boat I built was in a room in the house 17ft 6 inches by 12 ft. Didn't have a garage. So you could almost built an 18 ft boat but 16ft would be easier and 14ft easier still.
Regards,
Phill

Goodday Robi,
Firstly you aren't crazy, it is more than possible for someone with a fair aptitude to building things to create themselves a very good boat. I've done a bit of amateur boat building in the past and like you am interested in building myself my next boat. There's plenty of web sites around with ideas to explore if you can use a search engine.
Depending on what you want to build there's a few ways you can go, if you like to race then look at the formula classes where you can make up whatever design you fancy if it fits in the rule then hey presto you have a boat with a racing yardstick! These include F14, F16, F18 and A class boats, I believe you can also get building plans for the Tornado, Taipan 4.9, Blade F16 and Mosquito.

As Mary inferred, some people just get off on building things so don't worry about the knockers, though they do have good points and your aware that If you create the worlds slowest F16 then it probably won't sell for more than firewood (but as long as you enjoy it and built it to last a long life then you'll get more in enjoyment than cash.)

Cheers Phil


ps keep us informed of your progress if you go ahead.

richard woods and james wharram design cats for home builders, you can google their name and 'catamarans' to see their websites. i've designed and built several small boats, its FUN! a chesapeake kayak with outriggers makes a cool and very doable trimaran, www.clcboats.com

Hi,
Check out this website for a home built Tapian 4.9:
http://www.ahpc.com.au/buildown49.html

Also see this site for Paper Tigers, Formula 16HP's, etc:
http://www.geocities.com/Phillbrander/

Steve
Hobe FX-1 Sail# 211

wow thank you folks for all pointers, links and kind words. I will keep on doing some research and I will start desinging on pen and paper shortly.

Hi Robi,
If you have basic woodworking skills & tools, and the space & time to do it, then go for it. I believe it would be best to buy plans for a well-designed & established class boat, such as the Taipan or Blade from Australia, they are both F16 class compliant boats,and you can race boat for boat under F16. The Taipan is already present in the US, and the Blade is under construction as a production boat, so you`ll have guys to compete with in the near future.
The danger is building your own design - it will hold very little resale value even if it is fast, since it isn`t a class boat, unless you know what you are doing and want to build a one-off to F16/F14 class rules. Rather buy plans, the guys who designed these boats know how to make a fast, strong, lightweight boat. Follow their instructions diligently & you`ll have a fantastic boat.
In the Taipan & Mosquito classes in Australia the home-built wooden ply boats are competitive with the glass boats, are as stiff & strong (if not more so) and just as light. And you have the satisfaction of sailing a boat you built, rather than just forked out some cash for.

The attached pic is of a home-built Mosquito in South Africa, and it has won many national championships. The owner bought an epoxy boat, now he & his son argue over who gets the wooden boat !! (The white boat next to it is also homebuilt plywood, could you have guessed?)

Cheers
Steve