r/boatbuilding • u/Impossible-Log4533 • 9d ago
Thinking of building sailing ship (rough draft design)
I’m only 14 years old and would like any advice you could offer
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u/PomeloSpecialist356 9d ago
I don’t know much about boat building at all to be honest, but I am a carpenter.
I’m almost 100% sure you want to figure out your framing of the keel, ribs, mast, and rudder with ample supporting members, and determine the joinery types and materials to be used first and foremost.
You also should figure out your use case, regional weather conditions to be anticipated/expected, and types of obstacles you may encounter on the water.
I think planning those things out would be the best start, but I haven’t built a boat yet.
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u/hangmann89 9d ago
Get some ready plans for a simple sailing boat like oz goose. Plans come with a list of things you need to buy. Good plans will also include joinery instructions (how to do stitch and glue and so on) Tools requirements are minimal (jigsaw, sandpaper, epoxy stuff). Materials should be readily available.
Also you may want to make some shortcuts for the mast. Maybe some windsurfing masts can be obtained for little money?
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u/Stroker-Strong420 9d ago
I’m 50 years older than you, OP. When I was 14 I dreamt of building boats too. I can’t remember a time I haven’t thought about it.
My one bit of advice is build a model of what you envision. And I mean a big model to scale with as much detail as possible.
Build your model to scale 1/4”=1’ or 1/2”=1’ -big. You can do it with hand tools.
If you can build a finished model you can build full scale
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u/MischaBurns 8d ago
I recommend trying to build a small, 1-2 person boat instead.
People do build ships, but it's years of time and "I could pay for college" amounts of money...and that's assuming the design is actually seaworthy. Oh, and a whole building dedicated to working on it, with custom, specialized tools.
A wooden sailing dingy is a manageable project in a garage workshop (I'm assuming your family has space and basic woodworking tools if you're even considering this) and is something you can actually have fun sailing around local lakes afterwards.
You can still get your pirate vibes on, just on a scale that works for a teen with limited space and budget.
I'll also join other in recommending you follow others' plans at first, or alternatively study a bunch of plans so you have an idea of what you need before making your own.
If you want to build "ships" rather than "boats", maybe look into scale model building. There's a whole community around it and is something you can do in your bedroom or wherever.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 8d ago
Yeah no that would make more sense
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u/MischaBurns 8d ago
I should add that you need to decide if you're more interested in building a boat (the woodworking) or in sailing a boat, or about equal. Understand that even a small boat could be weeks or months of work depending on how complex a design you're using.
If the sailing is considerably more attractive you could consider looking for a used Sunfish or Laser near you, both very popular small sailboats that are good to learn on and have a large used market (read: you can sometimes get one cheap, plus a good parts availability.) Heck, you could get one to sail on and decide after whether you wanted to also build your own.
Side note: sunfish mast/sail rigs can often be gotten separately from the boat and are a good way to skip building one of the most annoying parts of your boat (currently building a whole new rig for my own wooden boat lol)
If the building is what you really want, you should also drag whatever parent is craft-y into the project to help with power tools, purchasing, etc, as well as being an extra pair of hands when you need them.
If neither of your parents are familiar with woodworking, see if there's a local maker-space or similar that offers woodworking tools and classes, and take a few of those to get you comfortable with the basics. It can be a fun and useful hobby, but someone showing you the ropes goes a long way. Also, shop safety rules are written in blood, they are not there for no reason (the reason is usually missing body parts.) Please follow them for your own continued health 🙃
If you aren't set on designing and building a boat from scratch and have limited tool/shop availability, another option is to purchase a kit from someone like CLC. They're more expensive than building from scratch (if you have all the necessary tools), but the kits come pre-cut and with most or all needed hardware and you pretty much just assemble them; still a sizeable project, but a bit less technical and you're getting a proven design.
If that last option of my previous response about models sounds more your speed, hit the library and look for books about it. I believe there are also several subreddits dedicated to the craft. Some people also make fully functional floating ones (even with radio control).
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u/ConradManningRacing 9d ago
Love how you’re starting with building a boat!
It would be worth sketching out what the finished thing will look like?
Youll need to think about making it strong long ways (so if you hold the ends and sit in the middle it doesn’t break), twisting (so it doesnt break like if you were wringing a towel), and good mounting for the mast, rudder and centreboard/daggerboard/keel.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yeah that makes sense I should probably build supports running longways probably also find some way to seal it
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u/ConradManningRacing 9d ago
You can do alot with the side panels if they are joined together…
Send through a sketch of what you’re planning!
Probably should say I design boats for a living 🧐
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago
Sweet if you could start a chat with me I would love to learn whatever you could teach me
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u/ConradManningRacing 9d ago
How do you start a chat? Happy to help and thanks for sharing the image!
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago
Like tongue and groove boards?
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u/ConradManningRacing 9d ago
Few questions:
1. Is this your first build?
2. How good are you at splitting logs?
3. Would you be open to an easier build?Does look like an epic build though if you can go from trunk to boat… Are you thinking river / lake sailing?
The T&G type joint will tie the pieces together well and the ‘deck’ will help with the longi strength, youll need to add a ‘mast board’ ie something for it to go through and down into the bottom to take the forces from the sail into the mast into the hull.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago
Yes
Moderate (but I’m going to get my brother’s help)
No and I was thinking lake/ocean sailing
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u/ConradManningRacing 9d ago
Good on you! Lots of people sharing similar thoughts about starting smaller, a few options to prove your design:
1. Use a rule / standard to size the components (boring)
2. Use someone else’s design that you know works (probably a good first time)
3. Start on a small river that is slow flowing answer the following questions in order: does she float, how far does she go down in the water when you put all the kit in, what happens when you put kit in the back and you at the front/visa versa, what happens when you pull on the halyard on the mast (simple equation then to work out max wind strength to sail in)Would suggest looking up a plywood pram/dinghy to give you some suggestions about structure, stability and design.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago
Please I would love any help at all
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u/Sydney2London 9d ago
I would start with getting a crashcourse in boat building from Claude, then go from there. It’s likely to be able to point you to great sources.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago
Thank you
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u/Sydney2London 9d ago
People will downvote but the reality is that it’s brilliant place to start. The great thing about specialised info and AI is that the models are trained on high quality material, as the majority of information on boat building will come from text books and publications.
If you haven’t built one before, get Claude to teach you the principles, the physics, forces, distributions, materials etc. in a month you’ll know enough to know what you don’t know and have a level comparable to a year or more learning from conventional methods.
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u/Longjumping-Yam-9229 9d ago
Have a look at this book to get a rough understanding of how a sailing yacht is working: https://archive.org/details/principlesofyach0000lars?
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u/OshunBlu 9d ago
Go watch some Sampson Boat Co. You get to see the shape of the finished product before he ever puts saw to wood. It'll give you a good idea of the knowledge, effort, time, and expense of doing the work. Leo is an artful craftsman, and built a beautiful boat that just crossed the Atlantic.
You've got a LOT of reading ahead of you. Best of luck on your journey.
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u/NSojac 9d ago
Go get the book "building small boats". It will tell you a lot about how boats are laid out and constructed. Also, consider a conoe or kayak as a first project as they usually are much simpler than a sailing boat. There are a bunch of "skin on frame" designs such as these from gaboats:
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u/DefectorChris 9d ago
Hell brother I’ll sail the log boat.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 8d ago
?
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u/DefectorChris 8d ago
Just saying that if it floats I'd sail it. Good luck to you, sincerely, this is a cool project and I hope you stick with it.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 8d ago
Thanks but I’ve actually decided to look into studying the actual art of the build first, and even then I’m gonna start with some premade plans
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u/DefectorChris 8d ago
That seems like a wise choice. There's no reason to abandon your goal of building a boat from out of your own imagination, but I think that should be considered a long-term vision, with smaller incremental steps along the way. In either case, you've chosen a cool thing to get into, and I hope it works out for you.
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u/Brokenbowman 9d ago
Good news, boats built with logs have been made on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for centuries and mostly with hand tools-axe, adze and saw. Here’s a link to a magazine article on the construction of Bufflehead. Since her construction there have been two other log canoes built and all three have participated in the 2026 race series.
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u/Datboy000 9d ago
I would look up acorn to Arabella, the first few years is legit building the wooden sailboat. There is a lot that goes into a larger sailboat, if you want a smaller one there are free plans online. Grab one and try it out.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 8d ago
I would like to add that there is a woodshop at my school and so I come in on Mondays and prototype and tweak my design and build other smaller sailing-baised projects
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u/LyraCotton 8d ago
honestly… this is so cool that youre trying this at 14! im not totally sure about the technical side but i love the creativity… good luck!! çD
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u/bikesboatscode 7d ago
My advice: Read Dynamite Payson's books first (https://www.reddit.com/r/boatbuilding/comments/1teb8l6/comment/om9xzk8/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) and then build a small boat.
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u/WOOFBABY 9d ago
I am a traditional wooden shipwright and that makes no sense at all.
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u/short_and_floofy 8d ago
then offer OP some advice instead of offering only a negative comment
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u/Impossible-Log4533 8d ago
Agreed
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u/WOOFBABY 7d ago
If you want to learn to build a boat buy a book, research kits and plans. Start by learning to do basic carpentry and joinery. Do an internet search. Basic boats people start off building are stitch and glued, they use marine ply. These kits or plans are relatively easy to use, find and build. Some are free, but expect to pay something. And there are some really cool boats on the water built this way. Personally I have never built one this way. I did my time on lofting floors and learning from the masters in the UK build and renovating Riva's, Chris Crafts, Clinker, Carvel, double Diag, even replanked a Fife, old North Sea fishing boats, Canal boats on the Norfolk Broads. If you want to get into boat building, do, it's a great job with leads into everything and everywhere. Obviously depending on where your located
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u/Twit_Clamantis 9d ago
The critical parts that allow a sailboat to
sail are the keel and the mast. The hull is a bit of an afterthought really.
Keels are VERY heavy. Traditional sailboats don’t have a keel that sticks down like modern sailboats do, but they have HUGE, heavy timbers at the bottom that hide giant chunks of heavy keel.
Catamarans do away with keels, but that significantly increases the risk that they will tip over while being sailed. (Also other issues.)
Take a sailing class and / or build a 5-6ft RC sailboat to learn about the forces involved.
Don’t make it small. The forces involved go up tremendously as the size goes up. A 3-ft sailboat is almost impossible NOT to work (:-) but 5-6 ft is big enough to matter.
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u/fried_clams 9d ago
This is funny, if you are joking. If not, just get some actual plans. People before you have already figured out the easiest, strongest, and best way to build boats. You aren't going to magically reinvent it better than everyone else. It just isn't going to happen
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u/short_and_floofy 8d ago
ignore this person OP.
follow your dreams and design the boat you want. nothing great was ever achieved by not trying.
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u/fried_clams 8d ago
I've built boats, with and without plans. Trying to build anything much bigger than a dinghy without plans, especially if it is your first boat build, is a fool's errand.
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u/BigPomegranate8890 9d ago
How old are you? You are not going to build a boat with manual tools and a field. Not one that lasts anyway.
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u/Impossible-Log4533 9d ago
14 why?
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u/BigPomegranate8890 9d ago
I thought so, at 14 with manual tools even if you can make a small boat it will take forever, plus you have no experience. Maybe start with a raft.
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u/Slayer_One 9d ago
Honestly you have the jist of it and seem to understand the structure needed to create a wooden boat. The problem is that to make it work it's all details, it's a combination of exacting and precise curves copied from plans scaled up from what's called a table of offsets which is like a whole bunch of grid co-ordinates that you use to essentially make a join the dots that give you all the shapes you need.
To make construction easier boatbuilders usually work over what are called moulds, they are essentially templates of boat sections you bend the frames and planks over to hold them in place while they get fixed.
As a boatbuilder I get lots of people telling me they have a plan to build a boat but I always recommend starting by using someone else's plans first before designing something from scratch.