[sailingforever]

sorry guys, I know I've asked a lot about small boats, but I need to find some other models to my liking, because it has been a long time since I saw an O'day Sprite for sail. length should be 9-12 feet, preferably main sail and jib, centreboard, room for 2, and under $500
must be stable and seaworthy.

Hopefully you all have some more ideas!

 

[sailingfool]

You wont see many 12 foot sloops. Sounds like you want a Turnabout, also known as the N10 http://www.n10association.com/ . You might find a wooden one in that price range.
PS - best for a bunch of kids or two very small adults...

 

[sailingforever]

Can they be single handed?

Well, maybe not sloops, but probably boats in that range that can be sailed with one or two smallish people.

 

[jpclowes]

There are so many, I don't know where to start. My brother had a Dyer Dhow, which is about nine feet. He outgrew it when he was about 14. (He is 21 now, and 6'4") I sailed them at camp too, they are nice, double as a dinghy too. Another boat I have sailed which is only slightly larger than the size you mentioned is a Blue Jay. It is 13'6" and has a Main, Jib and Spinnaker. It is a nice boat, I had one when I was about 14 and could single hand it with just the main up. They are phasing them out as junior sailing boats on the East Coast, so you may be able to find some relatively cheap right now.

 

[sailortjk1]

Its amazing how much boats cost nowadays. The preowned 10 footers listed above are around 2 grand! A new Flying Scot is around 14! You might find an old sunfish in the $500 range, (A great little boat: No jib and Two adults is not an easy fit) but not much else.

 

[sailingforever]

okay...
Sometimes I see turnabouts in the local swap it or sell it guide, but they are always atleast $1000

 

[SailNet Archive]

Have you considered building one ? Lots of plans about and you could buy the materials well under your budget. Good family project.

 

[sailingforever]

I have considered that, but most of the kits that I have come across have been quite expensive, and I do not believe in using marine plywood as it is made of endangered rainforest trees.

 

[SailNet Archive]

GTP Jester 12'

I just bought a 12' Glastec Products Inc, Jester fiberglas Sailing Dingy made in 1975 for $500.00 but I had to buy new sails, Main and Jib. The hull is in practically new shape and the previous owner threw in the trailer with the deal. (I had to put new bearings in both wheels before I could move it.) So there are deals out there. This coming year I'll take some pictures and sell it the year after for a larger boat. With the new sails and the old sails repaired I should get enough to make a down payment on a daysailer.
Useswriter@yahoo.com

 

[pigslo]

What about a Holder 12

 

[SailNet Archive]

Most of the marine ply I see here in Michigan is made of Canadian woods. You might want to recheck that. Typically plywood is made of the cheapest available wood, and endangered rainforest wood is way out of that category, those woods are usually used for finish veneers. What is marketed now as Luan mostly comes from either Brazilian or African woods, not even close to Luan. There is a 'Luan' 3/8s " ply that is marketed as Luan for placing above the underlayment of flooring, its actually a Brazilian wood, which lets it retail ~ $10 a 4' by 8' sheet instead of the $ 90-120 + it would be if actually Luan. Luan and Teak are both now rare, and are now more generic names then actual woods. That said, there are actual rainforest woods, that are harvested sensibly in Brazil that are as good or better then both Luan or Teak. But, I would make an educated guess that the majority of the 'marine' plywood made in North America is fir. And its good stuff.

Kits will be much more expensive then buying the material yourself and building to a plan. The size you are talking about you could build in a long weekend once you have the material assembled. The wood you could pick up at Home Depot for ~ $200, plus fasteners, glue etc. And you'd have a solider boat. Sails, rigging, mast will bring her up to the $ 500 but you'd have a new boat.

 

[SailNet Archive]

Blue Jay accolades

Blue Jays are awesome little boats. I learned to sail and raced on them on L.I. Sound as a teen in the 70's. The great thing about them is that they have a main, jib and spinnaker. So you can get experience with the three major sails you'll find on a big boat with the ease of a 13-footer. They handle really well, are easy to rig, are comfortable for 2 small to medium sized adults and are surprisingly fast.

I would buy another today in a heartbeat, but I just opted for a $100 Laser If you can find one for $500 (and you might be able to find an old one for that), snatch it up. You might try craigslist.org for deals. The wooden ones are beautiful. The boat was designed by Drake H. Sparkman, head of Sparkman and Stephens -- if you are interested in its pedigree. Here's a link about Blue Jays:

http://www.sailbluejay.org/index.html

I would NOT recommend a Dyer Dhow. They are WAY too small for 2 adults and they are pricey, as they enjoy a long standing reputation as THE dinghy to have by many of us "old schoolers." If it doesn't come with a rig, expect to spend another several hundred to a grand on that -- and all you get is one sail. They lack preformance, but they are fun -- for one. I sailed ours as a kid and had fun tooling around. I would NOT want to be in one in any kind of real air though.

Good luck!

 

[Jeff_H]

First of all most of the marine grade plywood that I see these days seems to be Okoume or Douglas Fir. Kits seem to mostly use Okoume, and most of the Okoume that I see is marked as being from environmentally soundly farmed rather than from old growth stands like much of the fir. Although more expensive Okoume is a far superior species for use in small boats than Luan (which is also called Phillipean mahogany but which is really a species of cedar) or fir which has a tendancy to check. At least around Annapolis, I have yet to see plywood at Home Depot that is suitable for building a small boats. Since the plywood represents a moderately small percentage of the cost of a building the boat, it makes no sense to cut corners on hull planking only to have the boat deteriorate and fall apart prematurely.

When I looked at the cost of buying one of the Chesapeake Light Craft kits, the cost of the materials in the kit were very close to being equal to what it would cost to buy the plans and buy the materials separately, only when you buy the kit, you get precisely cut planking and frames, which results in a much more precision finished boat.

There have been times in my life when I have spent a morning thowing together a disposable 'door skin' or 'underlayment' boat for some specific purpose. They served their purpose but did not last. Building even a small sailboat takes a lot more work and that effort should not be squandered on poor materials.

Jeff

 

[sailingforever]

I didn't know that they now make marine plywood out of fir now. Building a boat would certainly be educational and fun, but I have limited time and space.

 

[slyrss3]

Here's a website for small boat plans. http://www.stevproj.com/BYYCOrdPage.html
Check out the Weekender, it's the first boat. It's a 19 foot pirate ship, and it's sails are made from blue tarp! Cheap and good!

 

[sailingforever]

19 feet is not what I'm after

 

[primerate84]

You might want to look at a Comet. I had a older wooden-hulled Comet that is rigged with a main and jib and could sail with two people comfortably. Mine was in very good shape and had a nice trailer. I sold it last year for $800.

 

[primerate84]

The Comet is a 16 foot boat. Forgot to put that in the last message.

 

[sailingforever]

unfortunatly, 16 feet is also a bit out of my size range. comets look very nice though