What boat should I build first?

Jun 07, 2021

Do you want to build a wooden boat?
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If you are considering building a wooden boat, you have probably already spent quite a bit of time thinking about which project would be the right one for you.

There are a lot of questions to be answered: Is the build too difficult? Will it be fun? Can I get the materials? How long will it take? Will I lose patience (or will my family lose patience with me)? Will it be a good boat for my needs?

Sometimes, not being sure about which design to choose can be a real barrier to getting started building your boat.

This post is meant as a guide, first going through some overall considerations and then diving into the pros and cons of the most common boat construction techniques for beginners.

Consideration no. 1: Why do you want to build a boat?

The first thing I think you should do is to think about why you want to build a boat. Is it because you like to work creatively? Is it because you want to gain new skills? Is it because you like to spend time away from screens and office chairs and reconnect with the tangible world? Or is it simply because you want a (cheap) boat to go sailing in?

If you first of all just want a boat to go sailing in, I think you should seriously consider if building it yourself is the right thing for you to do. Building a boat takes a long time, especially if you have never done it before. So if your main focus is to be done, the process will most likely be stressful and frustrating.

But if you are in it mainly for some of the other reasons mentioned above, I think that building a boat will be a wonderful thing for you to do. If the creative process is a goal in itself, you are on the right track. Here's why: If the building process is fun, it doesn't matter if building the boat takes a long time. Actually, the longer it takes, the more fun you will have.

When I choose a boat design to build, I focus heavily on the construction process. I do this because I want the build to be as fun and satisfying as possible. Of course, I like to get a great boat out of it, too. But it is not my first concern.

There will be an overview of the pros and cons of different construction types in the last half of this post.

Consideration no. 2: With boats, size = time

As mentioned above, building a wooden boat takes a long time. But: If the process is fun, this should be a good thing. Still, you will need to be realistic about how much time you can spend on the project. Some first-time builders consider small keelboats such as a Herreshoff 12 1/2 for their first projects. While these are beautiful boats, and while some first-time builders indeed have succeeded in building them, this is not something I would recommend for most people.

There is a rule of thumb that the cost and the construction time for a boat roughly correspond to the weight of the boat. If that holds true, a 3-ton keelboat will take 100 times longer to build than a 30kg canoe. A professional builder might be able to build a Herreshoff 12 1/2 in around 2000 hours, which equals a year of full-time work. Beginners will most likely spend at least twice that time. Working full-time every Saturday and Sunday would result in a project that would take around five years to complete.

As you might have guessed, I would recommend that you start with a small boat. Perhaps a canoe, a rowboat, or a small sailing dinghy. These boats can give you absolutely wonderful experiences on the water (I've made a video about this). Building them is a lot of fun. And you get to try out a lot of different boat building techniques but in a much shorter building period.

Consideration no. 3: What do you want to use the boat for?

You will of course need to think about the features of the boat itself: What do you want to use it for? How many people should it be able to carry? What propulsion do you want - sail, oars, motor? Will you use it in protected or open water? Should it be open or should it have a cabin? Should it be light enough to trailer or to put on the roof rack of your car?

Consideration no. 4: That warm buzz in your stomach

Because wooden boats about love - not about being rational and calculated - you should love the design that you are building. If you feel a warm buzz in your stomach when you see drawings or photos of the boat, you are on the right track.

In that way, boats are a bit like children: They take up too much of your time. They cost you money. They can be a bit of a hassle. But still, I've yet to hear a parent who regrets having spent time with their children. And I've yet to hear a boatbuilder regret the time he or she has spent building a wooden boat.

Construction types - pros and cons

To help you make an informed decision on which boat type to build, here's an overview of some of the construction types that I think will be most relevant for the first-time builder.

This post will not be about recommending any particular designs. But it should give you an overview of the different construction types and their pros and cons, so you can decide which will work best for you.

Kit boats

While not a construction type as such, a lot of aspiring boatbuilders look into kits for their first boatbuilding project. And with good reason: Kits are probably the quickest and easiest way to build a boat.

A kit typically consists of several CNC-cut plywood parts that need to be glued together (usually over a few pre-cut molds) to form the boat. The fact that most parts of the boat come pre-cut will save you a lot of time. But it also means that the amount of woodworking you will be doing during the build will be a lot less than if you build a boat from scratch. There are a lot of classic boatbuilding skills you don't need when you build a kit boat. This might be a good or a bad thing, depending on what your interests and focus are.

If you want a good boat quick and easy, a kit might be just right for you. If you want to dive deep into woodworking and skill-building, you should probably build a boat from scratch instead.

Pros: The fastest way to build a wooden boat.

Cons: Very little woodworking involved in the building process

Stitch & glue construction

With the advent of epoxy glue, some amazingly simple boatbuilding techniques have evolved, one of them is stitch and glue.

A lot of kit boats are based on the stitch and glue technique. I must admit that I have never built a stitch and glue kit boat, but here's how it basically works: You take your pre-cut plywood parts, drill holes along the mating edges and "stitch" the parts together using metal wire or cable ties. That will give you your hull shape.

To get the joints between the parts watertight, you cover them with fiberglass tape and epoxy. Once the glue is dry, you can cut away your metal wire/cable ties, as the glue and fiberglass are now holding the boat together. To get a nice smooth hull, any cracks or holes are filled with an epoxy filler and sanded fair.

Pros: A very fast construction method

Cons: Can be more about gluing and sanding than woodworking

Strip planked construction

In strip planking, you use narrow strips of wood, glued on edge, to cover the hull of your boat. The strips are bent over temporary or permanent molds that define the shape of the hull.

One of the clever things about strip planking is the fact that the strips are so flexible that they can be bent into place without "spiling", i.e. without making a pattern for the plank first. You simply bend and twist the strip into place and glue it to the previous plank.

The strips are often milled with a bead and a cove to make sure you get a good contact surface between the planks, even in a round-bottomed hull. Because the strips are quite narrow, it can take a lot of time to plank up a strip planked hull. But in terms of the skill required, it is definitely accessible for a beginner.

A big plus of the strip planking method is the fact that is suitable for even the most complex hull shapes because the strips are so narrow and flexible that almost anything is possible.

Usually, a strip planked hull is covered inside and outside with fiberglass roving set in epoxy. The fiberglass layer adds strength across the direction of the wood fibers, thereby usually eliminating the need for frames in the boat.

The fiberglass coating can be finished clear with varnish if you want the wood to be visible.

Strip planking has a lot going for it in terms of flexibility and simplicity of construction. But I think strip planking has some drawbacks, too. The main thing is the fact that it leaves out one of my favorite parts of boatbuilding, which is spiling and fitting planks. Milling the bead and cove strips is also a quite repetitive task, although you could purchase pre-milled strips. There can also be quite a bit of sanding involved in strip planking after the fiberglass/epoxy has been added to the hull, at least if you want a hull with a perfect mirror finish.

Pros: Can provide jaw-dropping results. Is suitable for even the most complex hull shape.

Cons: Preparing the strips and planking the boat may feel repetitive.

Skin on frame construction

With skin on frame boatbuilding, you create a skeleton for your boat, consisting of a backbone, stems and cross-sectional ribs. This skeleton is then covered with fabric, which will keep the water out.

Traditionally, the boats were covered with animal skin, but these days, synthetic fabrics are normally used instead.

This building method is best suited for building small boats such as canoes and kayaks.

Pros: Extremely lightweight. Very fast to build.
Cons: Not as durable as a planked boat.

Lapstrake construction

The special thing about a lapstrake (or clinker) boat is that the hull planks overlap. This gives the boat a characteristic "stepped" hull side, which is seen a lot, especially in smaller boats.

One of the benefits of lapstrake planking is the fact that the overlap between two planks acts as a longitudinal stringer, which strengthens the boat. Because of these double-thickness overlaps, the overall planking thickness can be reduced, giving a lighter boat.

Another good feature of lapstrake construction is the fact that it is quite forgiving, especially in the spiling (plank patterning) process. Because the planks don't mate edge-to-edge, a slight imprecision in plank shape is normally not a problem. This makes lapstrake boats well suited for beginners.

And in terms of aesthetics, I think a well-lined-off classic lapstrake boat is hard to beat. The overlapping plank joints really accentuate the hull shape.

Lapstrake boats, of course, have disadvantages too. For one thing, repairs can be more difficult to do than with other traditional construction types, for example, carvel. That said, repairs are by no means impossible.

Another thing is the fact that lapstrake does not suit all hull forms. If your hull has extreme shapes, sometimes "stealer planks" (planks that do not extend all the way from bow to stern) are necessary. Stealer planks are difficult to fit in a lapstrake planked boat.

A traditionally built lapstrake boat is fastened using copper rivets or clenched nails (nails that are hooked around the plank pair). To get sufficient transverse strength (across the boat) sawn or steam bent frames are added as "ribs" in the boat.

Pros: Fun and challenging in terms of boatbuilding techniques. Aesthetically pleasing. Light weight.

Cons: Requires more woodworking skills.

Glued plywood lapstrake construction

Glued lapstrake construction boomed in the 1980s and is still very popular today. Great designers such as Iain Oughtred and François Vivier and others have taken traditional workboat designs and adapted them to this construction technique.

Because plywood is very dimensionally stable, the planks of the boat can be epoxy glued together. If this is done in a lapstrake boat built of natural wood, the planks will most likely crack when the boat swells up and dries out.

Another benefit of plywood is the fact that it is made of thin veneers of wood glued together at 90 degrees. This gives plywood strength in both of these directions - in turn, the lapstrake plank is not only strong lengthwise but also crosswise. This means that no extra crosswise reinforcement is necessary for a glued lapstrake boat. Frames can generally be omitted, which saves weight but it also reduces the build time.

Being an industrial product, marine-grade plywood is quite easy to get your hands on. And it comes in handy sheets, ready to use, with no milling required.

That said, if you want a glued lapstrake boat that is varnished or oiled, you will probably be spending a considerable amount of time with a heat gun, scraper, and sandpaper to remove hardened epoxy drips from the planking process. So the time you save by not riveting and not framing your boat might not be so substantial after all.

And, while plywood has technical advantages, for me it is not as much fun to work with as natural wood.

Pros: Fun and challenging in terms of boatbuilding techniques. Even more forgiving than traditional lapstrake because any mistakes can be epoxied.

Cons: You will spend a considerable amount of time applying and removing epoxy glue.

Carvel construction

Carvel construction is the traditional way to give a boat hull smooth planking without the longitudinal ridges that you see in lapstrake construction.

Where in lapstrake, the planks overlap, in carvel, the planks are installed edge against edge.

With carvel construction, you have a bit more flexibility in terms of hull shapes than with lapstrake planking, because the planks can be narrower and because they don't necessarily all need to go from end to end.

With carvel planking, the planks will need to be "backed out", or hollowed, to create a smooth inside of the hull. Also, the outside of the hull will need to be faired after the planking is done to make it nice and smooth.

The plank lines in a carvel constructed boat won't be as visible as in a lapstrake boat, so you won't need to be quite as careful about "lining off" (the process of determining the placement and shape of each plank).

Because the planks meet edge-to-edge, the plank seams tend to open up more when the boat dries out than in a lapstrake boat.

On the other hand, plank repairs or replacements are a bit easier, because you don't have a plank overlap that you need to deal with.

Pros: Fun and challenging boatbuilding technique. Flexibility in terms of hull shapes.

Cons: Requires skills. Backing out and fairing the hull is labor intensive. Plank seams may open up more than in a lapstrake boat when the hull dries out. Heavier than lapstrake.

These are the main construction methods that I would recommend a beginner to consider. Other construction methods such as cold molding (gluing up a hull from multiple diagonal layers of veneers) would be options too, but I would normally not recommend them for a first boatbuilding project.

My (subjective) verdict

If you want a good, functional boat as fast as possible so you can get on the water you should use skin on frame or stitch and glue for your boat. Or - if you want it to go really fast: Buy a boat.

If you want a relatively simple build and don't mind some repetitive tasks strip planking will give you a boat with the maximum "bling" factor.

If you want maximum woodworking fun (and challenge) while building a timeless, classic boat you should build a natural wood lapstrake or carvel boat.

- Mikkel Pagh