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Idea 21 sportboat

The development of the family of small offshore capable sailboat plans : chined hull for the highest stability, vertical lifting keel, trailerable, suitable for club racing or cruising (two interior versions) ,  plywood and epoxy hull with the radius chine system, sparkling performances while sailing and reasonable interiors for coastal cruising.

First boat launched : read the first impressions here

Idea 21 small sailboat plan is the latest development of my family of small plywood & epoxy sailboats plans for homebuilders : it was quite a time since i was thinking of an evolution of her smaller 19 footer sister, so i finally take the decision to publish this new plan. the goals of this plan is simple: add interior volume, simplify the work for homebuilders switching to a complete plywood & epoxy radius chine hull, enhance slightly the sparkling performances of idea 19, keeping the sailboat very balanced and suited for sailors ranging from enthusiast beginners to experienced seamen., first boat launched and several other boats in building stage make idea21 the most sparkling project on our catalogue,  hull: chined hull on a small light sailboat has a simple reason to exist: it gives more stability to the sailboat when heeled, much more than a round hull similar sailboat. i managed to keep a very low wetted area of the unheeled hull, in order to achieve a good pace in light air and avoid excessive drag. stern sections are quite flat to gain speed downwind (idea 19 has been clocked with speed steadily in excess of 15 knots)., bow sections: experiences on racers showed that “knife-blade” bows may give you less resistance, but the price to pay is high in terms of buried bow sailing downwind, so i decide to provide this plan a large u-shaped section on the bow ; sails provide the sailboat plenty of power to defeat the small amount of added drag., sailplan: i have a very good starting point with idea 19, so we’re doing small adjustments and no revolutions: square top mainsail, 7/8 fractional rig , very wide single swept spreaders, no backstay, deck stepped mast with sturdy section, 110 % j jib, code zero, jennaker hoisted on swinging retractable bowsprit, and a good amount of sail area., keel and ballast: idea21 have a solid hard wood cored & unidirectional glass epoxy laminated lifting keel, with a naca optimised profile and a low resistance hydrodynamical shaped 280 kg lead bulb bolted on the keel tip; it can be made by a homebuilder, no need for professional welder; the fin area is on the low side, speed will help generating the required lift without adding too much drag. keel case is in 20 mm thickness plywood and epoxy laminated glass reinforcements, and it’s perfectly waterproof while sailing., full lifting keel  version : after a request from a builder, idea 21 cruise is available in a version featuring an integral watertight keel case running form hull bottom to cabin top panels, this feature called flk (full lifting keel) will allow the boat to sail with keel partially raised or to motor with keel totally up, a good option if you sail in shallow waters frequently., cockpit: was one of the strongest point in idea19, we simply keep the same arrangement and dimensions, so we have a really huge area for the crew and a simple and sturdy building in plywood panels epoxy glued on a structure of bulkheads and stringers., interiors: here i focussed on several upgrades; i decided to split the project in two versions (so two different sets of plans, you have to specify on order), “sport cruise” or “racing” ; both versions have 4 berths, a classic v berth on bow and two quarter berth after; in the cruising version cabin is 55 cm longer, giving wider interiors, enough room for a separate toilette and more comfortable after berths ; in the racing version we have a marine toilet (there’s room for a jabsco compact one) under the bow v-berth; cabin height is 1.65 m in both versions. interiors plywood panels are detailed on plans., taking advantage form the first season of sailing, i can now say that i strongly advice the cruise version as long as you are not going to run a sailing school, thus needing extra space in the cockpit., wooden rig: starting form summer 2019 we deliver two extra drawings with the plans, both for race and cruise version,  describing how to build a wooden rig suited for this boat.  keep your budget low at the price of a small extra weight , how to build the boat: we chose the plywood & epoxy resin “radius chine” system, as for petrel 28 and hirundo 750, so the hull planking is in okume marine grade plywood ; planking the hull is quite fast , and the internal structure of the boat is made by plywood bulkheads, floors and solid wood longitudinal stringers, all glued with epoxy and strengthened with epoxy laminated glass tape, assembled on a cheap wood scaffold, keeping the hull light, sturdy and quite easy to build for homebuilders ; the goal is to keep the total weight of the 19 footer, raising the ballast fraction of the sailboat at the same time. here are a couple of pictures of the first planked hull perfectly showing the radius chine planking system.

a HUGE Thanks to Nils Theurer    ([email protected])   for the awesome pictures taken during the first sea trials  

Plans availability: Plans are available in italian and english. Plans are available in imperial units upon request (send me a mail before purchase).

Building a Classe Mini 650 from Plywood

• July 3rd, 2016

Ships are pure magic, don´t you agree? It seems they are directly connected to human emotion. Upon seeing a ship, few people can resist the sudden feeling of wanderlust, the longing for adventure and a flood of stories, pictures and memories. It doesn´t matter if this ship is an old rusty harbor tug or a fancy sleek carbon-made IMOCA racing yacht. Ships did enable us humans to conquer this planet. I guess this fascination for hulls, sails and sailors is not only part of our history, but maybe physically detectable in our genetic heritage.

One of the boats I find particularly interesting is the Classe Mini 650. These compact pocket racers are roughing up the sailing community since their first appearance at the Transat Race in 2001. Sturdy, powerful and very seaworthy boats they are. Class Mini 650 boats have since then defined a new class of racing yachts and opened up a whole new approach to single handed offshore ocean racing with a low entry level budget-wise and a fast (very fast!) sailing-style. Mini 650 boats and their class box rule have inspired spin-offs such as the famous Class 40 racing yachts (here´s an article on my first experiences with a Pogo 40 Class 40 racing yacht ).

A brand new Pogo 3 will come in at some 54.000 Euros incl. VAT which really isn´t such a big deal for a CE-category B offshore racer. But it seems that there are alternatives: Getting a used boat is obviously one. Or maybe … what about building a Classe Mini 650 by yourself? I am lucky having found Alex Lang from Berlin who is undertaking this venture in building his own Class Mini 650. From Plywood.

„I am totally in Love with Chines and Fat Sterns.“

NO FRILLS SAILING.com: “Alex, glad to meet you. Such a fascinating project, building an oceangoing ship from your own hands. What brought you to this project?”

Alexander Lang: “Well, I was first playing around with the idea to buy a boat. I was fascinated by the Pogo 30 which I had the pleasure to test sail. But I wasn´t able to raise the budget of more than 100.000 Euros. And I still cannot afford today. Buying a used boat second hand was out of question for me since I wanted a new one. No old boats for me: I am totally in love with modern designs like chines, wide stern sections, square top sails and all that stuff …”

NFS.com: “… and here the Mini 650 comes onto the stage …?”

Alex: “Exactly. It was by chance that I was stumbling upon the website of Jacques Riguidel who was building his SOLAIRE 34 from plywood at this time. He was regularly posting a lot of fascinating pictures on the build on his Facebok-site. I instantly caught fire and got more and more obsessed by the idea of building one by myself too. You see – I am earning my money by sitting in front of computer-screens.”

NFS.com: “Did you have any skills in manual work? And what is your sailing background?”

Alex: “Manual skills? Well, I do have some now (he laughs) . I am 34 years old now and in real life working as an IT-specialist and programmer in my own software company in Berlin. I started sailing at the age of 9 in an Optimist and had my first ever appearance at a yacht race at the age of 10. When I finished last. Sailing on the 4 meter OK jolly-boats and 420 dinghys I switched to cruising on a 5 meter Ixylon. Later on, in 2001, I was able to charter my first 28 feet yacht for a trip on the Baltic Sea without any legal certificates – I was glad everything turned out okay. I then got all necessary certifications afterwards and I am now chartering a yacht anywhere in Europe once a year. I love sailing fast French yachts like Pogo or RM-yachts, which are actually made from wood. My biggest adventure so far has been an Atlantic crossing as part of a yacht crew in 2010.”

“Dudley Dix Yacht Design is where I finally obtained the Classe Mini 650 Plans.“

NFS.com: “You are currently building a Classe Mini 650 from plywood. Where did you obtain the construction plans?”

Alex: “I was searching online for designs and quickly found the website of Dudley Dix Yacht Design . They do have a Classe Mini 650 in their portfolio and are offering their DIDI MINI which is a Class 650 indeed. After some further research I finally opted to buying a kit.”

NFS.com: “With no manual skills at all?”

Alex: “At the start I really didn´t have any skills, yes. So I began to read a lot of books on boatbuilding and working with wood in particular. I enrolled at an introductory course in boatbuilding here in Berlin. The next step was a 3-day carpenter´s course and as a final test if you want I built a small dinghy from a pre-cut construction kit made of plywood and epoxy. I was quite confident to being prepared and had a good feeling for the project.”

NFS.com: “Judging from the pictures you did built a kind of yard first?”

Alex: “Yes, I needed a building space big enough to house the yacht, yet affordable. It´s quite a tough task to find a hall or a workshop here in Berlin that is not destined to be pulled for new fancy luxury real estate nowadays. But I finally found a spot and rented a part of a hall. Here I added a kind of cailing to some brick walls to create a separate room for my build. And here we go: I do have my own yard.”

„Boatbuilding is not quite like IKEA.“

NFS.com: “You are now in the midst of finishing the boat´s hull. What is most challenging in boatbuilding and working with plywood from your perspective?”

Alex: “Well, I would say there is nothing really challenging about it skill-wise. But it is a very time-consuming process indeed. Sometimes I can only manage to glue a handful of parts together and that´s it. It requires a lot of patience. Most complicated from my point of view would be the logistical part.”

NFS.com: „How are you organizing the building process and integrate the project into your normal life?“

Alex: „I reduced my working time at my job to 80 per cent by taking a free day every Friday. So that enables me to work a full day per week on the boat. Sometimes I would work a full 3 day weekend, but that doesn´t happen very often.”

NFS.com: „So besides the fact that you spend too little time with your baby – which is a problem with every refit- or building-project I would say – it´s easier than expected?”

Alex: “Oh yes it is. The plans from Dudley Dix are very detailed and I have no problems with interpreting them. Along with the plans I bought a construction set from a Greek company containing all the essential parts of the build pre-cut. Since the plans by Dudley Dix already do refer to a plywood-boat I won´t have to perform calculations for material thickness for example or GRP-to-wood formulae. But it´s definitely not like assembling a Billy by IKEA on the other hand. When I am unsure of a certain detail I do an online research or simply ask people who have already finished in building this Mini 650 kit. In other cases it´s just trial and error. And sometimes using my brain will be helpful too …”

„I am fascinated by the Details of the Class Mini Build.”

NFS.com: “So tell me more about the Mini 650 kit.”

Alex: “Well, apart from the detailed plans it contains some 50 pieces of pre-cut plywood parts. That´s essentially the bulkheads and plywood for the decking and partially stuff for the hull. Some strengthening parts for the keel. The rest I have to fabricate by myself.”

NFS.com: “Most of the connections of the different parts are done …”

Alex: “… with a special glue. I do use 100% West System Epoxy. It´s fascinating that this boat will contain no screws or bolts whatsoever. The whole structural integrity is ensured by strong joints and the adhesive properties of the epoxy-glue.”

NFS.com: “What are the main milestones in the Mini 650 building process anyway?”

Alex: “I essentially started by fabricating the building stocks. This is used to bolt the bulkheads onto just to hold them in their exact position. The bolts are later taken off again. The next big milestone – and a very long period I am working on right now at the moment – is the application of the longitudinal bracings and stringers. These are glued onto the bulkheads and secured by special fillets. When I am finished with that work it will be the planking sheets coming onto the skeleton to form the body shell.”

NFS.com: “Then the hull will be finished?”

Alex: “Oh no, not yet. There´s a whole lot to do afterwards. The biggest thing will be the flipping of the hull. Right now I am building the yacht upside down. Before flipping the hull will be laminated with a layer of glass-reinforced fiber. This is not a measure of structural integrity but to further harden the ship and securing a waterproof outer sheeting. Then it´s of course the interior fitting of the cabin, decking and ceiling and for the last milestone it´s the equipment and fittings I will bring onboard like winches and cleats, rudder, rig and electric stuff.”

NFS.com: “Rigging and sails?”

Alex: “I hope I can afford buying a light and stiff carbon-mast. If not, aluminum will certainly do. As for the rigging, I am thinking of applying Colligo Dux standard rigging made of Dyneema. I don´t know yet where to get the sails from, but I´ll certainly have an idea when it comes to finishing the boat.”

NFS.com: “What about the keel?”

Alex: “That will be the very last part of the project.”

NFS.com: “I do like all the fresh and colorful designs of the Mini 650s. Do you have a certain vision of the hull-design of your Classe Mini?”

Alex: “Well, that´s something I don´t particularly think about too much at this stage. I know some talented designers who I am going to approach for a proper design. But for the first part I will have her painted in a neutral, classic color. Design will be added by using foil technique.”

“Sailing should be Zero Emission.”

NFS.com: “When I stumbled upon your project I found one particular detail interesting: You want to build a zero-emission-yacht. Can you explain what this means?”

Alex: “It´s basically two things. First, during the building process I try to facilitate only ecofriendly materials. That´s for example using flax instead of glass-reinforced fibers. There´s also epoxy-resin – partially – based on natural ingredients rather than crude oil. But I am honest: I am very cautious with that since first aim is to achieve a sturdy construction. I won´t do any experiments here.”

Alex: „Second thing is sailing. A Diesel engine is a no-go for my boat. I want to have the whole energy-supply provided by solar panels, propulsion will be ensured by having an electric engine for maneuvering. Maybe I can also install a hydro-generator but I fear that won´t be an easy task with such a small boat. Anyway, I am trying to use resources with discernment and be as sustainable as possible.”

NFS.com: “Speaking of the future, when are you planning to have the boat in the water?”

Alex: “I am now planning to have her under sails in spring 2018. That´s this and the coming full year of building and fitting of the ship.”

NFS.com: “A brand new Pogo 3 will have a 54.000 Euro price-tag, what´s about the budget of your project?”

Alex: “Up to now I do have some 150 net working hours and roughly 17.000 Euros spent on the ship. That´s including the training sessions, the test-trial with the small dinghy and all the tools required. I pay 300 Euros monthly rent for the building hall and to be honest, I am constantly re-writing the overall budget due to the process. But I guess in the end there will be something around 40.000 Euros spent.”

 “Mini Transat? Well, probably … No.”

NFS.com: “Where will you be sailing your brand new Mini 650?”

Alex: “She will probably have her berth somewhere at the Baltic Sea. Certainly a marina I can reach fast from Berlin. I think this sailing area will do best for obtaining my first sailing experiences with the Classe Mini 650 boat and getting to know her intimately.”

NFS.com: “After trialing the boat, which projects do you envision?”

Alex: “Well, for longer cruises this boat is definitely too small-sized. But I think it´s perfectly possible to have longer weekend-cruises and maybe some trans-baltic legs to Sweden or Finland. I definitely want to attend some races with her – as my aim is to participate in the Silver Rudder race around the Danish Island of Fyn.”

NFS.com: “And what about the MiniTransat?”

Alex: “As tempting as it may sound, but I have no such plans at all in this stage. But … never say never.”

Alex, thanks so much for talking about your fascinating project and letting us take a closer look onto the Mini 650 building process. All the best for you and the boat – and I hope to get a chance to talking to you sometime in the future when you little strong boat is further up in the build, which I am able to follow on your facebook-Site .

Here´s an interview with Pro-Sailor Lizzy Foreman on her MiniTransat Race 2015  

Two great articles on the bigger brothers of the Mini650 – sailing a Class 40 Pogo to Helgoland and taking her back very fast with Gennaker

Pictures with kind permission by Alexander Lang / Pogo 3 by Pogo Structures

What is a Puddle Duck Racer

The PDRacer is a developmental one design racing sailboat that is basically a plywood box with a curved bottom and is the easiest boat in the world to build. The rules are aimed at keeping the lower 10" of all hulls the same but the rest is up to the builder. A simple hull can be made from 3 sheets of plywood, titebond II glue and latex house paint. If you work hard for 2 weekends you can go sailing on the 3rd weekend. If you are really in a hurry it is possible to go from lumber to the lake in 5 days. Here are our free plywood sailboat plans

What our club is about

Interesting niche racing.

Most of the other sailboat classes fit in one of the two basic categories. 1: One Design where the class keep the boats as identical as possible so that the competition is between the skill of the crew. 2: Developmental class where the competitors engineer different sailboats so that their boat design is a significant part of their ability to compete. This category also tends to become a competition of who has the financial resources to gain the best engineering solutions.

Our class fits in an area between those 2 general types, we are a "developmental one design". Our hulls are a fixed one design shape, the sail rigs and fins are open for development. The result is our racing competition is blend of both the sailing skill of the skipper AND boat engineering & building skill. Because our boat is so small, that imposes a natural limit on the cost so our class will always be within the grasp of an amateur garage level competitor.

Getting Started On Your Duck

You don't need permission from headquarters, just build your duck, contact other duckers to get out there & do our motto !! If nobody else is organizing events in your area, then stand up and take the initiative to organize a local fleet and make the magic happen !!

Free Plans Site Map - All Pages On This Website Subscribe PDRacer Newsletter Contacting Other Duckers

Many other uses.

Our boat is not just for racing, she is great for all sorts of other purposes and in most states a boat this small does not need to be titled or registered. The hull shape carries 630 lbs. One member took 2 adults and 3 kids for an afternoon sail. Another went on a 3 day cruise with his wife and slept aboard at anchor every night. If you think about it, many people go backpacking for long periods, a PDRacer can hold much more gear and water than a backpack. She also works good as a row boat and motor boat. free plans diy boat oars

I often take my kids out rowing in mine, instead of a sail rig I put a big beach umbrella in the mast sleeve so they can sit in the shade. If you like fishing, you can row her into the shallow areas that power boats can't get to and launch in areas that don't have a boat ramp. She is very stable, enough that you can stand up and cast.

Which boat to build?

If you just discovered boat building, very soon you will become aware that there are TONS and TONS of different boats you could build. For some odd reason, many sailors think they should only have one sailboat - please realize it is perfectly OK to have several (or many) sailboats at the same time. Consider building a puddle duck to get some experience and have fun sailing with other duckers. The lessons you will learn will give you better understanding of how to build boats and make your next project go a lot faster. The duck is big enough to carry a 2nd passenger but small and easy to store. If you lose interest or don't have time, then stand her upright in the corner of your garage or out back till you get the itch to go sail her again.

Don't know how to sail?

For many people that build ducks, it is their first boat and they don't know how to sail either. Sailing is easy, just point the boat in the direction you want to go, then pull in the sail till it stops flapping. The best way to learn is to have your own boat and take her out on a very light wind day, on a very small lake and give it a try. Take a set of oars, if you can't figure out how to sail back then drop your sail and row back. If you know a sailor then invite them along and they will help you out, the PDRacer can easily carry 2 adults.

Afraid it will leak?

All boats leak especially wooden ones. Just because it might leak, doesn't mean you will sink, that is what the airbox flotation chambers are for. Besides, when you are sailing on a very windy day splashing along you will get more spray water than from any leak. Take along a bottomless chlorox bottle and when the water gets to about an inch deep inside the cockpit just do a couple of scoops to flip the water out.

If you are worried about capsizing, see our info about emergency flotation and recovering from knock down pages. Then go practice capsizing with your duck tied to the dock with a long line. After you learn how to recover from a knock down, you won't be afraid of them anymore.

Afraid it won't be perfect the way you build it?

A big part of puddle ducking is to continually tinker with your boat to improve it. Figure which configuration attracts you the most and start building it. Later if you change your mind, you can reconfigure her or just build another hull and move your parts over. They have almost no resale value so no matter what you do, she will be worth the same.

Club Membership

All you have to do is build (or get) a class legal PDRacer and register her. Registration is FREE and Shorty has tried to keep all other aspects of puddle ducking free, offering free plans and full instructions here on the website and requiring entrance to the world championship be free to any registered puddle ducker and their crew. There are no protected territories and any puddle ducker is welcome to organize events and invite others to go sailing.

We have an open member list, if their email address is listed, that means you can contact them direct for duck related activities.

Hatch Events

Want to increase the number of puddle ducks in your local area? One of the things we do is organize "hatch events". This is where people organize a day (or weekend) to get together and build ducks. Many times these are as simple as having a friend (or two) come over and just try to build what you can with no prior preparation needed or can be elaborate events on a big scale with 15 or more ducks being built at the same time. If you are interested in doing a hatch, consider inviting the other local duckers to come help because we really like any excuse to build another boat or help someone else build theirs. :)

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• My Boats & Boat Articles
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[ >> NEXT, I start Building ]

I decided to make a new Boat, a Puddle Duck Racer

• Part One, What's a Puddle Duck?
• Starting to Build
• My Puddle Duck Racer goes 3D It's official, I get my hull number.
• Next, I add flotation compartment.
• Bottom gets fiberglassed and Gunnels are added.
• Daggerboard case and seat get made.
• Making the daggerboard.
• Adding weight to the daggerboard
• Making the kick up rudder along with a tiller.
• I made a wooden sprit
• Finishing the carbon fibre mast I made a few years ago.
• Replaced the Broken Carbon Fibre mast with a wooden one.
• My PDR gets a mast step, plus side and front decks and more glass
• Finally Finishing the hull
• The Duck gets some hardware
• I make a Sail for the Puddle Duck
• My Puddle Duck Gets Launched!!

Being perfectly satisfied with my little Skerry, I decided to make a new boat.

What is a puddle duck racer.

Quoting the Puddle racer website:

"The PDRacer is a one design racing sailboat that is basically a plywood box with a curved bottom, and is the easiest boat in the world to build. Free plans, ... all boats must have have the lower 10" of their hulls be alike, but the rest is up to the builder. You can put any type of sail rig or underwater fins that you wish. Also the interior and deck above 10" is completely up to you. A simple hull can be made from 2 sheets of plywood, titebond II glue, and latex house paint. It only took me 10 hours to make the basic hull on my boat. The sail can be made from polytarp, or borrowed from another sailboat. You could literally make a complete boat for $100 or less using materials that came from your local Home Depot. Or, there are many different ways and configurations you could use to build your hull."

So far there are well over 1000 hulls registered as of 2017. (You can get a hull number once you have gone 3-D). My Boat Hull Number is: #457. Here is a link to the registry page for international Puddle Ducks

"Brick started as an exercise in how much boat could be built out of three 4x8 foot sheets of plywood. ... It's disconcerting that these box boats do everything better than elaborately modeled boats of the same overall dimensions, if they both have to carry the same load."

Many were build and well loved. Here is a page talking about the differences between the Brick and the Puddle Duck Racer.

WHY build a Puddle Duck Racer?

Where will i build.

The nice thing about building a 8 feet x 4 feet boat is that it will fit just about anywhere. So far I've been working in the basement and then in the back yard. It's moved to the garage now. My long suffering Nick is eying his shrinking garage with alarm.

Can it actually sail?

This is the surprising part. YES. It has even been made to plane. Because of it's footprint it is extremely stable. Various people have developed sailing rigs and lee-boards or daggerboards that have performed extremely well for an 8 foot box. Crazy groups have taken Ducks to Gulf of Mexico races. Texas 200, Everglades challenge

There is an active building community hell-bent in experimenting and just plain playing.

To be class legal the lower 10 inches have to conform to the official shape. Everything else is pretty much open for experimentation and sometimes just plain silliness.

• Official Website Designer of the boat Shorty Routh website. Free plans and lots of info and links to Duck related pages. There is tons of interesting material, and photos (Most of the finished boats on this website come from the official PDF website, with thanks!) If you plan to make a boat this is your first stop. You can get plans and lots of suggestions for rigging your boat, playing games, and you can register your hull and get an official hull number at no cost!
• Michael Storer's Oz Racer It's often referred to with the OZ prefix. He has produced plan which includes his rigs, improved foil sections and spars. In particular he has refined the shape of the profile for the daggerboard / rudders. Slight variation (no flat spot) in the hull profile differentiates it from the official PDR. He has also perfected the oversize version the OZ Goose.
• There is an active yahoo group on the PDRacer.

Lots of video are available on youtube about PDR's here is one example among many.

Sails for the Puddle Duck Racer

The triangular sprit also known as leg of mutton sprit and a few other names is often seen on Puddle Duck racers. It's easy to make out of polytarp and allows for a clear deck free from low head banging spars. Many "serious Puddle Duckers" have experimented with Balanced Lug Sails.

There is no regulation class sail for Puddle Duck Racers and just about every rig has been tried.

Some puddle ducks sport ridiculously large sail rigs. Because the boat is so stable it allows for lots of experimentation.

There have been many terrific paint jobs as well.

[ >> I START BUILDING ]

emails: Christine

This web site reflects my personal ideas and doesn't represent anyone else's point of view.

Home » OzGoose – Inexpensive family sailboat or club training and racing boat

OzGoose – Inexpensive family sailboat or club training and racing boat

Sailboat with stability and good performance.

The Oz Goose is a 12ft sailboat with enormous stability from its box planform which also makes it very easy to build and a powerful sailer. It was formerly called the PD Goose.

The green boat is being steered by Cherrie Pinpin who just came third in the Paralympic worlds in Kiel. The white boat is Clytie Bernardi who came fourth in Kiel.

Oz Goose Website for building, rigging and sailing information Buy plan USD38 Oz Goose Facebook Group

See Regional Agents for Australia, Hungary, Europe in menu.

This doesn’t at all sacrifice good sailing performance or rough water capability. It demonstrates normal upwind speeds for body hiked sailing dinghies and downwind speeds easily in the 10 to 13 knots range when one up.

Or to carry three adults with good performance and response even in light winds.

Handles well in strong winds and big waves and if capsized comes up with no water in the cockpit.

Oz Goose Specifications

Length – 12ft (3.66m) Beam – 4ft 1.5″ (1.258m) Hull Draft 5″ (0.125m) Centreboard Draft 40″ (1m) Hull weight – Gaboon plywood with Cedar or Paulownia timber ~115lbs (52kg) Luan plywood with Luan timber ~140lbs (63kg) Sail Area – 89sqft 98.27sqm)

The stability allows it to carry a large 90sq ft mainsail. Hull weight is lighter than a Laser Dinghy. While derived from the shorter 8ft Oz Racer it has a quantum leap in both performance and capacity over the smaller boat.

Sails well with one to three adults

With the large sail and light hull (115 to 130lbs – 52 to 60kg built as specified) it has the right feel and excellent balance of well designed sailing dinghies.

We use the Oz Goose in five ways.

• Training boat with excellent response even with an adult instructor and two adult students.
• Family sailing boat for parents and up to three kids.
• Club racing boat where singlehanded and double handed boats can win races.
• Paralympic boat with members of the National team in pairs competing equally with able bodied sailors.
• Fleet build in developing nations. We teach locals to build using local materials in three weeks. With sponsorship help 10 Oz Goose sailboats are built for the price of importing one Laser Radial.

It has no vices and steers precisely in all conditions. Comes up easily after capsize with no water aboard. No need to climb up on the centreboard. The rig floats so you can just pull the end of the centreboard down to your stomach.

Low Cost Sailing for Family or Club.

Less than 10,000 USD for a racefleet of 10 boats for adults and teenagers. Half sponsorship, half paid by family and corporate teams.

Sailing too expensive in developing nations?

No. And you can see the closeness of the racing in these photos. In general about 1/3 to half the cost has been covered by sponsorship by local materials suppliers and sailmakers.

Ten Boats for the price of one Laser and stable enough for many types of disability to not be a handicap.

The rest is made up on a per team basis by the participants.

Most of the management of these projects is through Roy Espiritu of the boatbuidling advocacy group Pinoyboats.org (PHBYC on Facebook).

How does a square Oz Racer/PD Goose sail?

20 Ways to make your Lug Rig Sail Boat Perform even better

The Oz Goose looks odd – so how do they sail? Top recorded speed solo sailing has crept up in the last two years. Originally 12 knots it was raised to 12.9 (both on a tideless lake in Central Texas. And finally raised to 13.8 knots on a tideless lake in the Philippines. Here is the designer’s boat in upwind mode in about 15 knots of wind.

The Oz Goose class starts after the Hobie 16s at the TLYC. The Taal Lake Yacht Club is probably the Philippine’s most active sailing club and has traditionally focussed on the Hobies. However Hobie 16 is far too expensive for the average middle class family. So Commodore and Founder Peter Capotosto is looking at the Oz/ PD Goose to bring more people into the club, increase participation in sailing and to provide a pool of sailors, some of whom will move into more advanced sailboat types as their experience increases.

For fleet racing they are quite competitive sailed two up allowing learners or disabled sailors to take part in racing against the singlehanders.

But how does the Oz Goose flat bow and flat bottom deal with rough water? For six month of the year the wind blows down to our lee end of Taal Lake. We get SERIOUS waves and chop with lots of reflections off the rocky shore. The goose is very powerful because of its high stability and able to carry full sail happily in 20 knots even with 65kg sailors.

Two up (or three in pic below, the day was the fastest I’ve been with three of us aboard)  it just smashes any taller wavetops out of the way, but a bit of heel gives a smooth ride. In light winds and leftover chop they can be quite noisy, but the 89 sq ft of sail gives good speed and action is smooth with a little heel.

Here’s a nosedive on a day when racing was cancelled. You can do massive nosedives with impunity. Peak speed for the day was 18 knots for a couple of seconds and a lot of time around 15 to 16. Try this in a Laser :). At all times the Goose’s steering is fingertip, no wild veers, just keep steering where you want to go.

Instant Sailing Fleet – Prefab for Group build.

Even more interesting when the building of the boats takes about 10 days prep time from a volunteer team. Then the families and corporate groups arrive and in three days for them the flat packed kits turn into 10 boats ready to sail.

We did it 2015 on Taal Lake Luzon and repeated 2016 on another main Philippine Island of Cebu (photo above). This year in Davao, the main city to the South partnering with a school and a resort.

An Instant fleet of Oz Geese for racing, teaching sailing, trekking and fun sailing.

2017 we are looking at starting another fleet on one of the other islands – another instant teaching and racing fleet of around ten Goose sailboats. The third such project for the Philippine Home Boat Builder’s Yacht Club an internet group of enthusiasts

For Sailing Lessons

For sail training we find the boats sail very well with two adult learners and a trainer with good response even in very light wind – thanks to the 89 sq ft sail.A boat that responds instantly is the only way people will learn to sail well.

This prestart photo is Job Ferranco who is regularly coming in the top three of local racing after graduation from one of the sailing racing courses last year. The white boat is being steered by Clyte Bernado a member of the National Parlympic Sailing Team(Sailability) as is Cherrie PinPin in the green boat in photos above.Low Cost Sailing – Local Materials and few imported fittings

The Oz Goose is easy to build from available local materials. It is well developed with good foils and sail/spar matches. It is quick as a one person boat. It sails well to teach people to sail with two learners and one instructor right through the wind range.

Apart from Rudder fittings the boats use three blocks/pulleys, a plastic horn cleat and a stainless steel ring. Every other part of setup is in Spectra rope.

Local plywood, epoxy resin, basic fibreglass cloth and you can build 5 or 10 (with materials sponsorship) for the price of importing a Laser Radial into one of the Developing nations.

Without sponsorship individuals In the Philippines building an Oz Goose from scratch is around PHP35,000 (USD700 for everything including the sail. To have one professionally built is around PHP80,000 (USD1600).

Making your own sail from polytarp; direction included in plan; will reduce the cost by 8000 peso in the Philippines and about $400 in advanced economies.

In the Advanced economies we see builds going together for well under USD1000 (some have been half that) or around USD 2000 for a boat built of top quality materials.

Detailed Plans for the OzGoose/PDGoose.

Plans are highly detailed and you will be introduced to modern boat building methods step by step in the 100 page manual. Itself a course in modern boatbuilding. It even includes how to make a sail from local polytarp/tarpolene or Tyvek

• Find out about buying the Oz Goose plan for under $40 here  and group discounts are available.
• Oz Goose (was PD Goose) Website for building, rigging and sailing information
• Buy plan USD36
• Oz Goose Facebook Group

So the boat that was called the PD Goose was renamed the Oz Goose because of the direct design relationship with the OzRacer series.

2 thoughts on “OzGoose – Inexpensive family sailboat or club training and racing boat”

Looking for a simple, LOW COST boat build to draw families into wooden boats and sailing. What do you think would be the “ball park” estimate of cost to build a rigged and ready to launch oz goose in both timber and epoxy in the US?

A really good place to ask is on the Oz Goose Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/opengoose/

There are builders in different countries. And building to different standards.

For advanced economies if buying a sail – I’m suspecting the price will vary between around 1200 to 2000 dollars or Euro (I have enough customers around the world to see that is approximately right).

Sail price – https://www.duckworks.com/product-p/rss-ozr.htm

I think you are in the USA, there are groups building in Kansas, SE Virginia and Michigan for different approaches and different costs.

If making your own sail from polytarp this would save about $300 or a bit more.

If you enquire on the Goose Group there will be some more accurate information for different builds.

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Sailboat Plans

Free Sailboat Plans

A selection of some of the Free Sailboat Plans (pdf) that were published in magazines such as “Popular Mechanics”, "Popular Science" and the "Boat Builder Handbook".

If you need help with lofting out the plans click here for an article here which should help.

• Open Dayboats/Dinghys
• Rowing Boats

Open/Dayboat, Free Sailboat Plans

Everyone who digs boating has heard of the Hobie Cat, the sleek little catamaran that burst on the scene and captured the attention of all the fast-action sailors.

Marked by asymmetrical hulls and special trampoline supports, the Hobie can reach speeds above 20 mph and perform with a rare agility.

But it has one drawback.

It costs mucho dinero.

Thus, we introduce the Hobby Kat, sailboat plans, a build-it-yourself version of the “Hobie” that should cost from half to a third of the commercial version. If you have the moola, of course, go for a Hobie and have the time of your life on the water.

If not, try our Hobby

The homebuilt is not quite the same.

But she sails sweetly and fast—qualities which have made the “Hobie” popular

Even in a light air she’ll slip through the water at a fast clip.

She has no centreboards, leeboards or keel, and needs none.

The inside of each hull has built-in lift, like an airplane wing, so that as the boat heels and one hull digs in the boat is pulled back to windward.

Click Here for the Plans

She can run in very shallow water and the rudders kick up for beaching.

You can carry her on a trailer or even disassemble her.

Many a “stink pot” addict will take a second look at Tern because she planes in modest breezes, is easy to handle, and her streamlined prow arid pod-shaped, “inland scow” type hull offer slight water resistance. Then too, there’s a charm about the tiller of a sailer that’s not matched by the wheel of a motor-powered boat. Part of it is the challenge of making the most of nature’s free-wheeling breezes. Even with her 72sq.ft of sail, this Free Sailboat Plan is remarkably stable, and packs as many as four persons aboard

For thousands of inland lakes, Tern is the answer to sailing water sport, she is rugged and easy to launch

And she’s remarkably easy to build.

Falcon is a small, speedy, sporty sailboat which handles well. Tests on the original Falcon showed that she could easily out-distance boats of comparable size such as the one design class Snipe and Comet sailers.

And she will pace neck and neck with 18 footers with considerably greater sail spread.

This strong, beamy, eight-foot pram may be sailed either cat-rigged or sloop-rigged.

The dagger-board may be adjusted forward to balance the helm when sailing with the addition of a jib sail.

Oars or a small outboard motor may also be used to power this versatile Free Sailboat Plans.

Dart” is a small two or three person sailing craft, designed for use on protected waters such as bays. lakes, rivers or wherever sheltered waters are found. Its construction will repay the builder handsomely and provide a fast sailing craft, light in weight, easily transportable and cheap to construct with all difficult joinery eliminated

It provides thrilling and economical sport.

The 'Crescent', designed by C. T. Allen, is the ideal sailboat for day sailing on a small lake, river, or protected waters of a bay.

Centreboard design (Fig. 2) reduces Crescent's draft, so Shallow is not a problem.

Its broad beam of over 5½ft. makes it an ideal family boat because there is room for a cockpit large enough to accommodate four adults or two adults and three kids, and side and forward decks big enough to stretch out on when sun bathing.

"Jewel" is a 16' Crescent Sailboat being built by Mike Allen from the free sailboat plans by C.T .Allen in the 1958 "Boat Builders Handbook". And what a superb job Mike is doing check out his photos here .

Click Here for the Free version of the Plans

Sailing enthusiasts and backyard boat builders are not likely to find free boat plans for a sailing pram that can be built faster, lighter, stronger, or less expensively than Graefin-10. Two men can begin work on a Friday evening and have a smart, lively 10-ft. 85-pound sailboat in the water by Sunday evening (it’s been done).

Zephyr Is a refinement of a type of boat developed by the English for use in the rough open waters of the English Channel. Not only is it fast under sail, but it can stand up under punishment. And it’s light enough to be easily loaded atop an auto or light trailer.

Breeze-Baby

Skimming off a brisk wind or with the wind abeam, Breeze-Baby actually planes with one person aboard. Despite her rowboat lines that make her easy to build, she handles easily under her simple sail, an ideal first boat. Simple lines are adapted to plywood construction that’s strong, light and that keeps Breeze-Baby’s bilges dry

You can take her with you atop your car or on a lightweight trailer for summer fun wherever you vacation or get in a week-end’s sailing.

Cat’s Paw is easy to build because of the straight-sided hulls. The sheer line is flat and that simplifies building the form. Bow and stern are straight, so there’s no cockeyed bevel to fit and fuss with

She Is an Ideal boat to learn or practice sailing in because she will forgive so many mistakes.

Cabin Cruiser, Free Sailboat Plans

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