I've had a few years break from sailing but am now semi retired and have a bit more time on my hands so thought it is time to pick it up again.

I've had all sorts of dinghies over the years (Mirror, Laser, International Moth, Enterprise, National 12, Laser and crewed in lots more) but what initially got me in to sailing was the Mirror which my father built from a kit which he bought at the ideal home exhibition in the mid seventies (M32543). 

I take after my father in lots of ways and one of the things I would like to do is build a dinghy. Looking round I can't see many kits or plans. What I would ideally like is something around the size of a Solution. Previously I've had the plans for a Phantom but just a bit to big for me also thought about a Streaker but just a bit to small!

Looking for ideas and inspiration.

I'd not seen anything about the Hadron but just looking at Dave Henshall's site it does look like the sort of thing I'm thinking about. Ideally I would like stitch and glue rather than build on a frame.

Dave's site took me back to the 70's when at Leigh Dinghy Store they had a Harrier in stock. I used to go in an drool over that. At that time I was crewing in Merlin's. Oh happy days!

You may find a builder (Tony Thresher?) to supply you with pre cut panels for the hull, but i don't think anyone does a proper kit for these anymore. A better idea would be to get a bare hull (Winders will supply one) and deck it yourself.

What I would say is that this is not a project to be undergone as a cost saving exercise because you wont! The labour that goes into building the hull is but a small percentage of total cost if you can't get trade prices on the materials. Then theres the rig, fittings, sail etc etc. You can get rig parts secondhand but if its a new boat..............

"Building from scratch" in this case means that you can have the frames CNC cut from ply. I found this is a good starting point, as the most critical measurements will be correct. 

I'm looking for the history of mine, 32541, would it be safe to assume it was also bought at the ideal home exhibition too?

Yes I want to build in wood, a great material to work with.

The Farr 3.7 looks a nice boat but I won't be going out on a wire any time soon : ) . The Hadron is 10sqm... a bit to much of a handful for me, wouldn't have been 20 years or more ago, however it is a beautiful looking boat. The Solo has never done it for me though I have seen some wonderful examples. The OK... when I first started sailing there was an old battered one down at the club and it always used to catch my eye,  just under 9sqm but an old design...

http://okdia.org/features/OK-Magazine-May-2015.pdf

(from page 12 on). It mentions two additional kits, available this side of the equator.

My impression is that using the CNC or laser cut panels of the Leech design would be the most cost efficient means of getting a good boat, as you buy the ply and have it cut, reducing transport costs.

The pricing gets better, if you find someone interested in buying the building jig off you after you are done (sharing the cost of wood, cutting and the cost of the plans, as subsequent builds from the same job only cost design fee).

Cheers, Chris

It seems a streaker may well tick many of your boxes too!  Although I am a little biased as I own one.

http://www.streaker-class.org.uk/Streaker/Why" rel="nofollow - http://www.streaker-class.org.uk/Streaker/Why

Actually that info is a bit dated! Last year the weight range of the top 10 at the Streaker Nationals was from 65 to 105 kg ! Four of the top 10 were over 80 kg.

For something a bit more challenging, how about an International Canoe?  There is a wood kit for the Slurp design -

http://www.damesblonde.co.uk/products.php?products_group_id=1000" rel="nofollow - http://www.damesblonde.co.uk/products.php?products_group_id=1000

That looks great. Good value cnc kit with hull jig hire. Just wish I was younger

Originally posted by Jack Sparrow https://www.facebook.com/groups/1092602470772759/" rel="nofollow - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1092602470772759/ For anyone interested:- the Farr 3.7 Class now has a Facebook Group for people building Farr 3.7's. It's primarily there as a place to ask for and share advice on building. Take a look if you are thinking about self building. The Group is a bit bear at the moment (it's only launched today) but will fill up with info soon I'm sure.

I know the Streak Owners Association website mentions those kits, but has anyone recently actually contacted Dave Butler and asked? I remember being told that such a kit does not exist. Maybe things have changed.

Jim suggests that there may be a gap for a mid range singlehander you can build ... My point is that there is no mass amateur (or professional) plywood movement as existed in the 70's, therefore it seems unlikely that any boat intended to fill that gap would be built in sufficient numbers to gain traction.

Back in the day a significant proportion of Jack Holt designs were built by amateurs, or by one man band professional boatbuilders.

It might be possible to build such a boat in either plywood or FRP, however in most classes where both constructions are allowed, FRP seems to dominate.

I must admit to liking the look of the Hadron ... But I wonder whether the RS300 might appeal to a similar market in FRP, i.e. A technical one design that resembles a single handed N12/Merlin or Skol Moth.

I just thought (maybe naively) that there would be newer designs (Solo 56, OK 57, Minisail 61, Phantom 71, Streaker 75) utilising a more modern approach to building which had perhaps developed on the stitch and glue method. There has been a lot of development using composite material such as foam sandwich, carbon, kevlar, etc and I'd hoped that the builders side may have developed where using CAD and CNC machines could produce kits which are easy(ish) to build with accurately cut parts at an affordable price. I'm probably looking for the Holy Grail of single handed sailing which just suits me

No i don't think so, certainly not to the same extent at least. Most two man boats dramatically increase their sail area once round the top mark, so you don't need a mainsail thats big enough to fast downhill while still being sensible up the beat.

Much as i think the standard of racing in the Solo class is really good and it's on the whole a pleasant boat to sail, it's a lot of work for not a lot of speed. There are classes that do the speed/work ratio better like the Supernova but are - IMO - less pleasant to sail. We'd all love a Phantom downwind, but only the larger fraternity can turn the bottom corner if its a three or more.

Sure, there are two man boats like that but if you don't like busting a gut to go slowly there are loads of options :). There are fewer options in the singlehander category, though i'd be interested to have a go in an Aero and the H2 Hadron looks interesting, though unfortunately i can't see it being a big hit without the marketing might of RS behind it.

friendly informal group.

Regularily for sale on ebay etc, usually for next to nothing.

There are classes that have a strong home-build tradition that use composite materials. The Cherubs, Aussie Javelin, possibly some N12s. I am not aware of any single handers, though.

But I think it is wrong to draw the conclusion wood = old fashioned. Wood is cost efficient, easy to work for an amateur, and has quite a few advantageous properties. And keep in mind that wood can be used as a core for composite builds. There is a reason it is still finding use in high performance projects. More historically, Julian Bethwaite built 18s on a balsa strip plank core. And today you will find people building high performance sports such as the Shaw 650 using strip planked cedar cores.

Sure, carbon on a foam core would have many advantages to these solutions, but it would be more hassel and more expensive to build for an amateur builder. Not that it wouldn't be fun :)

But doesn't your statement above already contain the answer? RS Vareo, RS 100 and D-One all do exactly that: increase their sail area once round the top mark. Losing some of the simplicity of a single hander of course. But yes, the *eros seem to be an option.

The Vareo is no more exciting to sail than a Solo, at least the one i sailed wasn't. It's a dog upwind and overpowered on the reaches in any kind of breeze. Useless for round the cans racing. Ive not sailed either of the others, but i suspect they fall into the same category - happy to be proven wrong. I also think that they are a bit too much of a fiddle once you turn the corner round the mark as most people i know only have one pair of hands! The 700 and the MPS are just too much boat for most people and are venue restrictive.

Keith, I wish you the very best with your venture and I do hope it works out. I'm sure you know only too well what you're up against!!