F-22 (Australia)

Well the F-22 has just gone from an affordable tri to build for me, to an unaffordable one in the blink of an eye!
The dollar having dropped from 98 to 65 against the greenback makes it out of the question now.
Must be good for Ian though. Just does me no good whatsoever.

I understand that the plans have gone up in price, but surely you will be sourcing the materials localy in Oz and buying them in Oz dollars? the labour will cost exactly the same!

Paul F32 #81 GBR

Well now that I've taken a breath and calmed down!!!
The components that we figured we'd buy directly have gone from around 11 grand AU to 19 which is a large jump...but not totally out of the question.
Luckily labour will be nothing, but also I imagine the kits and/or production boat prices will be a lot more now for Aussies than first expected.
But who knows what the dollar will do between now and then.
Anything could happen!
But I'm keepin' the dream alive for now.
Paul, must be great to have an F32. The new one on Ian's site built by Lombardi's looks amazing.
Hope you enjoy many days sailing it.

Had a slow day today, doing all the reinforcing around front beam bulkhead and the carbon bow pole that I made has a kink in it so has to be junked! sailing is a way off yet

By 'components' do you mean sails and mast etc, or are you buying some sort of kit. surely sails/mast etc can be sourced locally and won't be affected by the dollar?

Hey all:

I found out through a friend that an F22 built in the US would be ~$65K US. Of course this includes labor since I would not build it myself.

Maybe for some this is affordable, but it sure sounds like a lot to me.

So, my dream may be dead as well.

However, you can get an F-24 in the $30-40K range (used). So I will have to go with that when I am ready.

As Taswegian, I am still hopeful for an F22.

Maybe I will bump into a big bag of cash while walking on the beach one of these days

VAplayero
USA

Well the plans, beams, folding system are all priced in US dollars. What was going to cost $11500 now costs almost $18000
dollars. And everything else seems to be going up in price accordingly.
I've noticed the Corsair 750 Sprint was selling here new for $75000AU and now suddenly the base price is $125000AU. THAT is a lot of money for a daysailer and a HUGE price increase. Thank you wall street.

Vaplayero, I imagine it will be MUCH cheaper for you to have the boat built in NZ and shipped to the US.
Does anyone have any clues when Kit or production for the F-22 might start?

I get the impression that Ian is working really hard to get some sort of F22 production going.When I have no clue, it could be soon.
I think that when it is announced, all hell will break loose in the rush- its going to be a popular boat!

Speaking of costs, labor, etc. How long are the two Ama's on the F22? Is that something that you could use some older 20' cat hulls for, like say a used Inter 20 or Hobie 20, modify and use those hulls instead of building them? I have often thought of just building a certer hull and using the mast, sails, etc. off an Inter 20 for a good fast, low cost trailer tri, like that Dick Newick Tremelino that used the Hobie 16 hulls.

You have to buy the beams through Ian for the F22 and if he heard you were going to use anything other than his floats I think he might have a heart attack and not sell you the plans for the center hull either!! He is very particular about his designs.

The F-22 absolutely would be the perfect boat for the way we sail. We currently have a 36 foot ferro cement mono which is very comfortable but I read a great article on how if people were honest about how they sail and how much, they'd probably own a completely different yacht. The F-22 would be perfect for us as we mainly daysail, occasionally weekend, and once a year go for more than a weekend.
The F-22 would be much more fun to daysail, much faster and we could daysail in many various locations by towing. Weekenders we could travel twice as far and extend our cruising range by double, and here in Tasmania there is so much safe (relatively) cruising grounds to explore. Also there are somewhat exotic places like the Gordon River and Maquarie Harbour that are extremely tough to sail to and dangerous, that could be cruised by towing to the location. And lakes. Or our East coast. It so broadens our possiblities.
And everything is smaller, easier, lighter, with less maintainence, and no marina and slipping fees.
The only drawback is the accomodations are less comfortable and no private loo. But that setback is way offset by the benefits.
I would think the dollar falling against the greenback could only be a good thing for Ian so it might speed the process up or at least keep it going.
I would think we would only be able to afford to build, and that would be pending sale of our yacht. Perhaps we could manage to afford a kit when they are available. That would be great.
I just can't stop thinking about this awesome little bundle of fun!

"I just can't stop thinking about this awesome little bundle of fun! "

think of this,if you started the build when you started this thread, you would be glassing the outside of the floats now!
Go for it! sell the tub

Neither can I. I thin by the end of this year he might get one done. Just my personal opinion.

1airborne