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The Black Skiff
Free plans for a yole-derived boat by Mark Wallace.
Plans for Thames skiff and punt
Plans for two boats - one extraordinarily beautiful, the other an extraordinarily eccentric racer.
Double-ended 10ft clinker-built skiff
A very sweet but difficult looking clinker boatbuilding project. If anyone builds this one, I've love to hear about it please!
Practical Boatbuilding for Amateurs
Classic 1889 boatbuilding book by Neison and Dixon Kemp.
Cinderella
A nicely-built example of my Cinderella canoe, adapted for rowing with some neat outriggers made from ply. The boat was built and photographed by the talented Martin Wellby. Get the free plans from the download.
http://www.dinghy.pl/
Small boat plans by the talented and hard-working Radoslaw Werszko.
Ben Crawshaw builds the Light Trow
Ben builds the Light Trow - and writes a great blog while he does it!
Blackfly
Free designs for a very sweet ply camp-cruiser for one, or a cat-rigged sailing dinghy for more.
intheboatshed.net
- a blog about old boats
Not really about free boat designs - though there might be some later - but a new blog about boat restoratons, traditional boatbuilding, and traditionally-derived boats. Most are in the UK, but we will include some US material, not least because the author is an enthusiast for American boat types. Please visit!!!
Try our customised Google search designed to eliminated all the irrelevant junk you sometimes get!
Bean boat canoe
A little open-canoe for paddle-savvy kids who love the water, and aren't nervous in a tippy boat!
Classic outboard launch
I like this one from an old American magazine - built with some of the right period details, it could be a real head-turner.
Sharpie plans
Plans for a 12
Square Metre Sharpie - one of the more obvious European developments from the North American sharpie working boats.
Tubby dory
A slightly tubby-looking dory based on an old boat adapted for sailing as well as rowing. Again, I think it must have been copied from an old American magazine.
Kayaks, paddles etc
Still more on
canoes. Why has the world gone canoe mad? Because they're a good thing,
that's why...
Proa
Proa by Othmar
Karschulin. Be proa-active, why don't you?
Optimist plans
Plans for
building an Optimist. I don't know if they'd be accepted by the
Optimist mafia these days though...
A canoe called Cinderella
My contribution
to canoe madness here at FBDR. Not as simple as Joe's, but rather
elegant and by no means difficult to make.
Swinging a ship
How to make a
compass deviation table. Also, closely related pages discuss ratios and
boat photography.
Kiteboards!
The kiteboard
cookbook. Good eating, folks...
Malibu Outrigger
The Malibu
outrigger...
Madura Jukung
Madura Jukung,
19ft long, complete with plans and lines.
Lepalepa Bugis Outrigger Sailing
Canoe
Full plans and
lines for this 12ft 9in outrigger canoe.
Very simple canoe
Simple little
canoe drawn up by Joe Tribulato. Thanks Joe.
A new link about curraghs
At last - a new
link about curraghs. Courtesy of Colm O'Gairbhith
Hulls to AutoCAD
Here's how to
successfully transfer 3D files from the Carlson Chine Hull Developer
into AutoCAD.
Stability essay
Our friend Hannu
again, this time on the subject of stability.
The remarkable inventions of William
Watt
Inventive
individualist William Watt has some very interesting pages that small
boat design enthusiasts should see.
Which glue do you trust?
Here's
something to make you think hard about which glues you use...
Free designs
If you
don't mind dimensioning these
drawings for yourself, some of them are free. I must say that the
sailing boats drawn
with their transoms in the water look very odd to me, but some of the
others
look pretty good.
Free CAD
Alternative
free CAD package
Powerboat plans
Some
free old fashioned powerboat plans here.
Sailcalc
Peter
Vanderwaart's excellent
labour-saving sail calculator has been getting better and better.
Fishing boats for Nepal
Wonderful
United Nations FAO fishing boats for Nepal.
Clever and amazing small boat fun
The
mighty Hannu has been adding more of his clever and frequently
astonishing small boat designs. Look out for his latest - a paddling
plywood Admiral's hat.
Design for a schonker
This
might be for you if you're interested in traditional-style Dutch small
craft.
Hydrofoil
primer
Learn
about hydrofoils.
Two-sheet skiff, and electric power skiff
They're
a bit too light on design displacement to my mind, but certainly worth
a look.
Polycad
and Yachtlines
I'm
reminded that Marcus Bole's Polycad site offers some real treasures and
not a few challenges for amateur boat designers, including Polycad
itself and Yachtlines, which I'm told is very cool indeed - apparently
you punch in a few hull parameters and out pops a workable hull. That's
a scary thought...
Hullform
updated
I
gather Blue Peter's free software has moved on from the DOS version
many of us tried a few years ago and is now available in Windows and
Intel-based Linux version.
New Micro Mouse variant
I would
never have guessed that there would be so many variations on the Mouse
design - but I would also never have guessed that so many of these
little boats would be built, and we're now up to 112 amazing
launchings. This latest Mouse variant is designed specifically for
younger children, and has a flat bottom for easy building. I've found
that kids can cut timber and hammer nails into predrilled holes under
close supervision, though I'd advise parents to keep them away from
adhesives. Also, Micro Mouse has a big sister Flattie Mouse
that combines
the looks of the curved sides of the standard Mouse (laughter off) with
the ease of flat-bottomed building. Yes, I know it's called Mini Mouse
in the file, but we're going to change that.
Tiny punt
My good
friend Les Brown's 5-minute punt design. Even if you don't want to
build a punt, I'm sure it'll make you smile...
Dark
Ages boats
British
boats of the Dark Ages.
Hjortspring Boat
An
ancient and rather fabulous canoe found in a peat bog in Denmark.
Cedar strip dinghy
Lines
for a very nice small dinghy from cedar strip.
More Russian plans
More
Russian stuff - I hope some of you can read it better than I can.
Hulls to AutoCAD
Rick
Malagodi's method for persuading Chine Hull Developer (aka Hulls) .dxf
output files to work in three dimensions under AutoCAD.
Alternative small boat
Here's
Thorbjorn Lee's radical approach to the one-sheet boat. Unconventional
it may be, but T's pleased with its performance, and I think it's a
very interesting idea.
Tiny punt
My good
friend Les Brown's 5-minute punt design. Even if you don't want to
build a punt, it should make you smile...
Hot Rat
Dig
this - a 12 by 3ft flat-bottomed, flat-sheered Mouse derivative
designed to be built in a weekend. With a 70sqft leg of mutton sail, it
should give an adult or older teenager a fun wet ride. What could be
better for the summer? And this could be the cheapest, simplest club
DIY club racer seen since the Optimist.
14ft Expedition Mouse
Some
call this a Mouse for grownups: I call it the Expedition Mouse, for it
can be paddled, sailed and even slept in with the help of an airbed. I
think it's novel and interesting compromise for the adventurous
paddler, and it's still a very simple building job.
Gavin Atkin designs Yahoo group
A Yahoo
group for people building and using my non-Mouse series designs. Join
the race to be an early member ;-)
Scale explained
A
teach-in describing some ot the mysteries of scale.
Two-sheet boat
An
attempt at the maximum two-sheet boat, including some nice details.
Light sculling trainer
Plans
for a nicely worked out light sculling boat.
Sail trimming etc 1
Articles,
including material on main and genoa generic tuning.
Sail trimming etc 2
Article
about how sails work and are cut.
Fun ideas
Inventions
that time forgot - and which you might have mused about yourself.
Fun with jonboats
Instructions
for designing and making your own jonboat.
Is this the ultimate one sheet boat?
The man
behind these pages makes quite a large claim, but whether or not he's
right the use of materials and the discussion are both well worth
reading, particularly if you have ever tinkered with the one-sheet
skiff idea.
Magazine designs
The
excellent Svenson website has now been updated and improved with
additional material and a user friendly presentation using thumbnails.
Tom
Colvin essays on materials
Check
out Tom's drawings and so on - but do remember you are also visiting to
read his essays on building materials.
Classic Marine essays on metals
and booms
Some
valuable reference stuff here. Thanks Mr Bowlocks!
Folding dinghy!
A quick
reminder that this link does exist.
Free plan for a tiny dink
Basic
plans for an even more basic little boat.
Stitch and glue kayaks
Building
info for two stitch and glue kayaks.
Kayak sail
A sail
for a kayak.
Building an Ozark Johnboat
How to
build an Ozark Johnboat in words and pictures.
Carene update
Carene's
promoters have decided that Carene50 should be withdrawn so if you have
it bookmarked you may now find your link to it dead. However, they have
decided to offer a free download of Carene 2002uk, which will allow the
user to create a hull with two chines in a similar way to Carene 50 and
will allow saving and printing of designs and export to dxf files . If
you want to create a hull with three chines or to use the multi plank
setting (up to 20 planks evenly spaced) for round bilge hulls with the
additional feature of auto-calculation and output of plank overlaps for
clinker construction, you will need to purchase the licence.
http://www.alaska.net/~fritzf/Boats/Wacky_Lassie/Wacky_Lassie.htm
Wacky Lassie
I found
myself thinking about the Wacky Lassie easy to build flat-bottom canoe
the other day - and even though I think I've linked to it before,
because it's a great little boat I thought I should put up this link
again just to remind you all.
Gidge Gandy's Groovin Garvey
This is
Sandspur - a great little garvey design from The Rudder.
Once again, we have Craig O'Donnell to thank.
A fat little skiff
The
building of a fat little skiff, with plans.
Polycad
Fascinating
hull design software.
Standard
sail dimensions
John
Kohnen - the man behind The Mother of all Maritime Links pages, etc -
has begun assembling a catalogue of the dimensions of the sails
designed for standard boats. His very reasonable theory is that
second-hand standard commercial sails are the cheapest available, and
that they should be used more often in home-built designs.
An index to the Ideal series
Also
from John Kohnen is this tantalising index... Thanks to Jeff Gilbert
for pointing these pages out to me.
Low-cost boat building with Polysails
Dave
Grey, the man behind Polysails, has begun a project to provide more
low-cost boat building material aimed at families and teenagers, and
plans more. While you're there, do take a look at his articles about
making sails.
1885 open cruising boat
A very
nice 18ft open cruising boat found in an old copy of Forest
& Stream by Craig O'Donnell. Thanks Craig!.
Swallows and Amazons new URL
This is
the new URL for the Swallows and Amazons pages. Fancy designing and
building your own boat based on the ones in Arthur Ransome's books? The
Swallow has an interesting long keel...
A small land yacht
Build a
small land yacht, and have serious fun.
UK Epoxy plans
UK
Epoxy's offer several free plans for those who buy their glues and
cloth!
Jay
Benford's essays
If you
haven't read them before now, check out Jay Benford's essays.
Pati a vela catamaran
Build a
pati a vela catamaran, and read more about them here.
A hull design wizard - really!
This is
an astonishing piece of work - a software wizard that asks a series of
reasonable questions and in return spits out a Carlson Chine Hull
Developer model of a proposed chine hull based on the recommended
ratios and proportions spelt out by some of the best small boat design
books I know of. Hulwiz's files should be regarded as a starting point,
not as a finished product, and it is possible to create silly or even
dangerous results by giving it silly inputs. Nevertheless, I think
Lew's contribution in developing this piece of software has been
terrific, not least because of the huge range of hull types it offers,
including prams, double-enders, sharpies, dories, vee-bottoms and the
rest. If you decided to play with it - and you should as it's a real
treat - you'll be pleased to know that the latest version of Chine Hull
Developer is available near the bottom of Gregg Carlson's home page.
Designing
human powered boats
The
theory behind successful human-powered boats.
Build your own hovercraft
Build
your own hovercraft from these plans.
Handy software for people who make things
This is
an amazing collection of calculators and other things that just might
come in very useful one day.
Ice
yacht
Build
your own ice yacht.
Folding
kayak
How to
build your own folding kayak.
A canoe rig
A rig
for a canoe or similar.
Designing models
This is
about designing models, but I can't help thinking that there must be
material here that could also be of use to people those working on
people-carrying craft.
Conversion utility
A
conversion utility you might find useful, for example when
communicating across the Atlantic.
The argument for DIY boats
Why
it's best to build your own boat. I'd say that the best argument is
that it's fun, but there are other reasons...
Alternative materials and methods
Lots of
non-mainstream (and cheap!) materials and methods from David Beede and
others.
Fat little dory
A
design from George Beuhler that makes a 9ft dory for one person. And he
says you can stand up in in it!
Epoxy
company gives away dink design!
UK
Epoxies is offering a set of plans for an 8ft pram dinghy to people who
buy a £75 epoxy pack.
Animated boatbuilding
UK Some
nice animations of boatbuilding techniques.
Practical projects
Projects
and tips including making windows and Dorade boxes from a bunch of
Bertram 31 enthusiasts.
Classic Marine articles
A new
address for the excellent Classic Marine articles.
Krevetka-2
How's
your Russian? If it's good you might be interested in this site, which
includes plans for the Krevetka-2. If like me you're all at sea where
cyrillic characters are concerned, you might get at least some sense
from Krevetka-2
- 1, Krevetka-2
- 2 and Krevetka-2
- 2
Linux hull modeller
A
project to develop a Linux hull design package. Feed the Penguin!
Home-built
cat
The
story of a home-designed, home-built catamaran.
French-English sailing dictionary
If
you're looking at French pages such as the dory pages, this might be
useful.
Spray lines
The
lines of the Spray which started life as an in-shore oyster boat,
before Slocum took it around the world. Check out this boat's shallow
lines. And here are some more Slocum links.
Small outboard boat
Corky -
a tiny outboard skiff; there are a few other interesting things here
too.
Gondolas
Interesting
stuff about gondolas - I didn't know they were built with a bend to
make them steer more easily.
New one-sheet skiff link
A new
link for Herb Mcleod's one-sheet skiff.
Rowlocks
Just
about everything you could want to know about rowlocks. You say
oarlocks, I say rowlocks, they say crutches. (sings) Let's call the
whole thing off...
Win plans
Win a
free set of plans for a beautiful kayak in Stillwater's prize draw.
US Navy materials study
The
Navy considers materials for use in a sail training yacht. As a US
citizen of my acquaintance remarked, now we can see why it's so
expensive...
Thinking about lightning
Lightning
deserves to be taken seriously.
Designing a sternwheeler
A page
of design considerations when selecting a hull for a sternwheeler.
16ft pirogue plans free with epoxy
Jacques
Mertens-Goosens is giving away plans for his 16ft canoe with each sale
of an epoxy pack made up for the purpose. Why doesn't everyone sell
glue this way? Maybe that's what I should do!
Dogsbody launched
A home
builder in Denmark has built my Dogsbody outboard skiff from a kit
suppled by a local boatyard, See the pictures here, and get the design
from my Free Designs page.
New plywood coracle plan
William
Watt cooked up these clever plans for a one-sheet plywood coracle after
seeing Toby Churchill's. Thanks for sharing them William!
Small pram
A
different take on the classic two-sheet dinghy form. See sketch here.
Backyard casting
Ever
fancied casting your own boat parts? find out how here. And here.
AND here.
Dory plans
Sign up
with Spira International, and gain access to free plans for a 13ft
rowing dory.
Mouse boats go open-source
Here's
a radical idea - the Yahoo group mouseboats is now open-source. Anyone
can design a Mouse-series boat and it will be included in the
collection of designs if the ruling tribunal accepts that it embodies
the spirit and features of a Mouse-derived boat. To be accepted,
designs must also come with a good amount of design information
sufficient for another amateur designer to adapt move the idea on in
some way. Already there are a good range of free designs for small
one-, two- and three-sheet Mouse-derived boats and I know there are
more to come. I think this represents possibly the best opportunity to
play with small boats the world has ever seen...
Build the Duckworks design comp winner!
This is
the best link, complete with new pictures and extensive drawings and
instructions. You may also be interested in some of the other designs
too, as they are an excellent good bunch. Runner's-up
Pedal power prop
How to
make a slow-speed propeller suitable for pedal-power.
Paddle choice
What
kind of paddle do you need?
More
magazine plans
I have
linked to these pages of plans scanned from 'Science &
Mechanics' and 'Boatbuilder Handbook' before - but the collection has
grown so quickly I feel I should draw attention to them again. The
designs include hydroplanes, runabouts, sailing craft of various types
and sizes, cabin cruisers ranging from 15 to 21ft, a 25ft houseboat,
and, tucked away in a section called 'Other excellent boat plans' two
tunnel hull racers, a 'Sea Doo' and a canvas kayak. My favourites are
the 8ft outboard runabout for kids, the 12ft JonBoat, and the 16ft
dayboat and pocket sailing cruiser.
Still more magazine plans
The
Polysails site also offers a range of interesting old magazine plans.
Just recently I noticed a lively 18ft sloop I hadn't seen before -
Corky.
More simple oars
Another
set of instructions for making serviceable oars using diy skills. Not
bad these ones...
Interesting FAQ
I
thought this FAQ looked interesting.
Software links
Haven't
linked to this page of software links for ages, but it's good if that's
what you're looking for.
US coastguard rules
The
rules for US-based boat users.
Plywood coracle
Gaze in
awe at Toby Churchill's amazing plywood coracle. In fact, why not build
one? Everything you need is here. Also, check out his canoe.
Foil simulator
FoilSim
foil simulator from NASA.
Free
TurboCAD link
TurboCAD
have now gone back to offering a full featured but early version of
their software for free as a way of locking-in users. But I don't care
about being locked in - this is such excellent software I can stay
locked-in for ever!
Ratios essay
Everything
you ever wanted to know about ratios.
Rigging
essays
Essays
on rigging from Brion Toss.
Knots
Encyclopaedic
site about knots, including sailing and boating knots. Did you know
there was such a thing as knot theory?
Schonker
Drawings
of a traditional Netherland schonker, including the traditional style
leeboard.
150
essays on surveying
Not
directly about design, but extremely interesting nevertheless. David
Pascoe's 150 articles about boat surveying.
Free
plans at Turkish website
The
range of plans available via this Turkish free boatbuilder's site is
growing all the time. Look out in particular for plans for a tiny
orange-box dinghy and the German Piraat racing dinghy - and I gather
from the man behind the whole thing that he's expecting to add some old
Practical Mechanics plans shortly, including a 10ft cat-rigged skiff
and detailed instructions for a 25ft motor cruiser.
FAO wooden fishing boat designs
Two
sizes of wooden fishing boats via the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation - there are lots of detailed instructions and nice design
details here. There are also designs in ferrocement
and fibreglass
if you prefer.
Small boats for C19th boys
19th
century advice to boys on how to build and sail small boats.
Epoxy mast
Building
your own epoxy mast doesn't seem so bad...
A painting of your boat
How
about a classy painting or illustration of the boat you built or
designed? Wouldn't it be something nice to hang over your fireplace?
Christopher Warner's undertaking commissions at what I believe are very
attractive prices. Yes - I've broken my rule here and included
something that's not free design information, but Chris is a talented
chap offering something some of us will find useful.
Singlehander, sailboard attitude
Is this
the ultimate Mouse series boat? Maybe! It's traditional to thumbs down
narrow sailing craft, but the thumbs up sailing canoes - and that's one
tradition that makes little sense to me. Still, if this is to be a
sailing canoe, so be it. It should be lively and fun, and challenging
to sail with its 63sqft sail (there's a polytarp-style sail cutting
diagram) and optional wings for youngsters. The boat is just under 12ft
long from three sheets of 1/4in and a quarter sheet of 1/2in ply.
There's also a smaller alternative sail for those who prefer to stay
out of the water. Until it's been built and proven on the water, it's
certainly best to regard TheEdge as an experiment... But it might be
just the right experiment for this summer. PS - if you can't print it
at a size where you can read all the information, you could take the
files to a print shop.
Sail area, CoE calculator
Here's
a great sail area and centre of effort calculator cooked up (cookied
up?) by Peter Vanderwaart, moderator of the Yahoogroup boatdesign.
pdfFactory Trial Version
pdf
Acrobat-format drawings could become the format of the future for
passing around boat plans, free or otherwise - the creator prints to
this utility as if it was a printer, and the resulting file can be
printed out by just about any print shop. Also, here's a utility that
converts pdfs into 300 and 600dpi bitmaps. GSscript/GSview
Gaff rig explored
Here's
a new link to these useful-looking pages of material on the gaff rig.
Stressed skin Moth
How to build a
stressed skin Moth - perfect for those of you who like a little racing
to complement your capsizing fun.
Modern
rigs
Interesting
essays on the design and construction of modern rigs.
Rigging
a canoe
Advice on how to
rig a canoe with a small sail and a leeboard. Also, get your top
quality canoe sailing tips from the OCSG.
Sailing
Light Trow
This is something
I've been meaning to get around to for at least 18 months; a lively
sailing rig for my Light Trow design.
Handy
calculators
Calculators for
chain storage, capsize risk, bobstays and hull speed.
Sailing
canoes
Fabulous, almost
encyclopaedic pages about sailing canoes.
Curve
of Areas
Some standards
that scientifically-inclined designers might like to compare to their
own work.
Animated
knots
Some nice
animated knots.
Classic Moths
Material about
Classic Moths, including some good design stuff.
Flying Pig
Poke about Bill
Serjeant's inspiring site and you should find diagrams of an unusual
small sailing dinghy.
Javelin
Designing and
building a Javelin two-handed development class skiff.
Alternative
D4 rudder
An alternative
lifting rudder for the D4.
3D modeller
An new 3D
modeller. The free demo is of only limited use, but it's interesting
nontheless.
Narrowboats
Oddly there are
very few links that I have been able to find that include
design-relevant information about traditional British narrowboats.
These pictures may help; also here are some pages about the design and
building of the narrowboat 'Whisper'. Design and building of the
narrowboat Whisper.
Viking
canoe
Send an email to
Gerrie Warner, and he'll send you plans for a small Viking canoe.
Wacky
Lassie
A step-by-step
guide to building the Wacky Lassie, from Fritz Funk Doesn't include
intermediate frames, but does include the central mould.
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