It’s the dream of many of us: To get out there into the workshop, spend a few months sawing and planing and sanding and varnishing. And then being able to announce to the family “Here it is! I’ve done it! Now let’s go for a sail!”

If only it was as easy as that. If you’re a beginner in the business of building your own boat then you’ll need a good deal of guidance both before you start and as you go along. And that’s why I’m going to recommend a boat building plans package called simply My Boat Plans. “What’s that?” you ask. Well, quite simply:

“…it’s the best boat building plans package available on the entire Internet!”

Take a look at this short video to see what I mean.

This is the sort of thing I’m talking about. The My Boat Plans package gives you everything you need to get started on your first boat building plans project.

Get My Boat Plans Here

Now, you probably heard the guy say ‘…500 boat plans…’. You might have thought you mis-heard him. Well, you didn’t! The downloadable pack contain five hundred eighteen separate boat building plans for all sorts of boat designs.

Here’s a (very) partial list of the boat building plans included in the package. You can read this list and tons of other stuff on the My Boat Plans but I’m including it here so you can see what I’m talking about:

If you’re considering building a boat for the first time then it’s important that the plans you get should be simple, clear and easy to follow. Unfortunately it’s not always the case and many first-time boatbuilders can come unstuck by buying the wrong sort of plans. For first-timers, a wooden boat is the obvious way to go. It is possible to build a fibreglass boat as a DIY project, but it takes a bit of practice and experience to work with this type of material. That’s why the wood boat plans that we are discussing here today will be exactly what you’re looking for.

Take a look at this short video. It describes a pack of 518 (yes, that’s five hundred eighteen!) wood boat plans for all sorts of designs, all of which can be built at home.

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Get My Boat Plans Here

So what’s in this wood boat plans package?

These are the categories that you can expect to find in this superb pack of wood boat plans: thirty four Sailboats, forty six Rowboats, Canoes, and Kayaks, thirty six Runabout Outboard Boats, twelve Paddle Wheel Boats, seven Runabout Inboard Boats, nine Novelty Boats, twelve Cabin Cruiser Boats, nineteen Hydroplanes They’re all in downloadable PDF format and simply browsing through them and looking at what’s on offer is a pleasure in itself. The entire collection of 518 wood boat plans has been put together by Martin Reid, an experienced boatbuilder and an obvious enthusiast for DIY boat building projects.

How to go about making the best use of this wood boat plans package:

Firstly, of course, you need to establish exactly what you want your boat for. Are you, for example, thinking of a boat that you want to do a spot of fishing from? Will you be on your own or with you have a companion with you? This will obviously affect the size of the boat. Are you interested in sailing or is it a rowboat you’re after? What about your family? Will they be using the boat with you? Do you have children? Will they be able to learn to sail it? Are you thinking of outboard motor? Or maybe even an in board motor? You need to have a clear idea in your mind exactly what it is you intend to accomplish in your new boat. If you’re not confident that you can answer this question clearly then it would make sense to spend a few evenings browsing through the wood boat plans pack to get an idea of what sort of boats it’s possible to build and also whether you feel that you have an appropriate level of skill.

Next, you need to think about practicalities of the actual build process. Having examined your wood boat plans collection and having selected the craft you want to build, you’ll have an idea of the amount of space you will need in your workshop or garage. You’ll find that you will need a space at least twice as long and two and a half times as wide as the boat you have chosen. I say at least because you will find that you will need room to manoeuvre the boat as it is being built. You’ll need to mount it on trestles so you’ll want a place to keep them when you’re not using them. You’ll need room to store your materials and plenty of room for you to move around the craft and use large tools such as saws.

Ventilation will also be important when you get to the stage of standing and painting your vessel. There will be lots of dust that you will need to get rid of before you start painting . And when you do, typically, five or six coats of different types of paint will be required,  so you need to be aware of the solvents involved and how to avoid choking to death in your garage while you work!

Now all this sounds quite intimidating, I know. I’m not trying to put you off of course, quite the opposite, building a small boat from your own wood boat plans is one of the most satisfying things you can possibly do. And the day when you finally put her on the water will be a great day indeed. But you do need to be aware of what you’re going to have to do and which wood boat plans you’ll need to get to that point.

Many first time boat builders make a lot of mistakes and that is why the wood boat plans collection with all its videos, guides, software and help is such a good idea for any beginner. The collective experience contained in all this material will help you avoid many of the problems that beset people who try to go it alone.

What never fails to surprise me, is how quickly some people are able to build small boat from these wood boat plans. Many of them have built a small dinghy from wood boat plans in under two months. Maybe they don’t have families that seem to suck up so much of our spare time. But  I’m always delighted to see the enthusiasm and motivation that people are able to get from all the educational material I’ve talked about. And it’s also very interesting to see how many of them treat the boat building process as an end in itself. What I mean is: what starts off as a project to get an inexpensive boat for the purpose of fishing or whatever turns into a hobby where the main enjoyment comes from building the boat rather than using it. Of course most people enjoy both these things, the building and the sailing, but I must say that the sense of accomplishment that you get when building a small craft from wood boat plans using just your hands on a few hand tools really is very gratifying. so my advice is: get yourself a set of these wood boat plans and go for it!

Get My Boat Plans Here

I’m checking out My Boat Plans, to find out

Boat Plans Pre-Internet

Boat plans were a problem before the advent of the internet. If you wanted to build your own boat, you’d head for your favorite yacht chandler and buy a pack of boat plans. They usually came on about five or six large sheets, packed in a large brown envelope. Boat plans always seemed to come in brown envelopes. The scale of the drawings would usually depend on the size of the craft because blueprint drawing paper only comes in standard sizes. You’d keep them in your garage or workshop and they’d begin to fall apart as you folded and re-folded them. Then you’d get glue on your boat plans and sawdust would stick to the glue. Then you’d tread on a sheet and rip it. You get the idea…handling boat plans wasn’t easy back then. Boat plans were also expensive, you could easily blow a large chunk of your budget on just one set of boat plans.

Boat Plans 2011

Now let’s move into the 21st Century, if you want boat plans, there’s no better place to head for than My Boat Plans. Here, you can pick up 518 (yes, that’s five hundred eighteen) boat plans in electronic format for less than the price of one or two boat plans just a few years ago. And, because they are on your pc, once you’ve downloaded them, you can print out as many boat plans, parts of plans and details as you want. That means you can take them into the workshop, tread on them, even lose them altogether and you’ll be fine. Another copy is just a click away. You might not think this is important but, believe me, you will once you get started.

My Boat Plans Review

So, what exactly am I talking about here? I’m talking about the latest package to be released by master boat builder Martin Reid. It’s simply called My Boat Plans, but, as you’ll find out if you read on, the package actually contains a lot more than just plans. As it happens, you’ve landed on this page at the right time, because, until recently, he was offering a similar boat plans package that contained a paltry (!) 254 boat plans. Since then he’s doubled the number of boat plans (quite where he gets all these boat plans from, I don’t know) and also included some superb bonuses that will be of real, practical value to all boat builders, especially beginners.

Let’s have a look at this boat plans package in detail:

Firstly, of course you get the 518 boat plans. These are categorised into different types of craft, as follows:

12 Cabin Cruisers, 46 Canoes-Rowboats-Kayaks, Dinghies, Dorys, Duck boats, 5 Houseboats, 19 Hydros, Jon boats,
Small Boats, Runabouts Inboard, Paddle Boats, 12 Paddle wheel, Fishing boats, 7 Runabouts Outboard, 34 Sail boats, Ski boats, Skiffs, Sloops, Submarines (yes, there’s even a submarine – not what you’d expect in a collection of boat plans, eh?), Surf boards, Utility boats, Yachts, Wooden boats.

As you can see there’s a huge variety of boat plans here and definitely something for everybody.

My Boat Plans Bonuses

I mentioned bonuses. I have to say, Martin’s really pushed the boat out on the bonuses, take a look at these!

• Over FORTY videos (that’s over ten hours) of high quality videos that give you clear, visual, step-by-step instruction on many aspects of boat building, from a complete start-to-finish walkthrough to choosing materials and even boat repair (when the time comes!). There’s a very informative video on calculations, a must if you’re planning to use the Boat Design Software (see below).
• A fully licensed copy of 3D Boat Design Software. I know for a fact that this normally sells at $49.95 (I know because I bought a copy!). This is a great piece of software for anyone planning to go just that bit further than following pre-drawn boat plans and who really wants to design their own boat hull.
• The Complete Boatbuilder’s Guide. Over 600 pages of illustrations, tips, guidance and instructions on just about every aspect of the practical side of boatbuilding. Essential reading for beginners.
• Boat Building Secrets. More of the same sort of information, culled from different sources with a wide range of material covered. Well worth a thorough read before you decide on which boat plans you’re going to use and then embark on your project.
•  Boat Safety Regulations Guide. Again, essential reading whatever type of boat you’re planning to build. Covering all the essentials from electrical systems to ventilation and fuel systems to loading requirements.
• And…Full lifetime membership of the My Boat Plans Forum, a busy boat builders forum where you can interact with like-minded individuals discussing just about every aspect of boat plans and boat construction. You can learn a lot here so be sure to get involved!

Well, as you can see, the bonuses are worth their weight in gold and, for my money, makes My Boat Plans a complete no-brainer.

Get My Boat Plans Here

I’m very enthusiastic about the whole My Boat Plans package, but there were one or two things that I wasn’t so sure about:

It takes a while to download
Due to the very large amount of content contained in the package, there is about 900 megabytes of boat plans, (and other material in addition to the boat plans) to download. This may take a while if you have a slow connection. However you can opt for the DVD edition in the members area so that solves the issue if you’re on a slow network

I’d like to have seen more catamarans
Well, I guess you can’t have everything but I’d like to have seen a few more boat plans for catamarans and other multi hulls, as I’m particulalrly interested in this type of craft.

On the whole though, I was very impressed with the My Boat Plans package and would definitely recommended it for anyone considering building their own boat.

So the answer to my question, “Can you really build a boat from boat plans purchased on the internet?” is an unqualified yes. If you take the project one step at a time, don’t rush into things and do plenty of preparatory reading and study, then there’s no reason why you too can’t be afloat on the water in a boat of your own construction in no time!

And this is where you can get access to the My Boat Plans package, right now…

And here’s an interesting design without using Boat Plans

Adventure Travel

I’m John Richards, weekend sailor and amateur boat-builder. I’ve been testing 3D Boat Design Software to see how easy it is to create a proper hull design and whether it’s a sensible investment for the hobby sailor. Read on and I’ll not only give you my honest objective opinion on the product but I’ll also tell you how to get the software for under $50 with a full 60 day 100% money back guarantee.

3D Boat Design Software is not brand new, it’s been around  a little while. But it does get continuous upgrades (I used version 2.6.0), so there might well be a later version by the time you read this. Never having used any sort of CAD or boat design software before, I was a little unsure just how much I was going to be able to achieve. But I was pleasantly surprised and I have to admit, it’s pretty good. I’ve given it scores on a five point rating for some criteria which I think are important. It scored pretty well.

3D Boat Design Software is designed for all versions of Windows, including 98/2000/ME/XP/Vista/Windows 7 and it installed painlessly on my Windows XP test machine. As a boat design software beginner, I was a little overwhelmed by the number of views that it’s possible to have of your hull as you develop it, (see screenshot on right) but fortunately you can switch off the ones you don’t want. There are a number of sample hulls included with the 3D Boat Design Software package and it makes sense to experiment with them first, as I did, to get used to the interface.

The program itself is not brand new, it’s been around  a little while. But it is subject to continuous upgrades (I used version 2.6.0), so there might well be a later version by the time you read this.

Never having used any sort of CAD software before, I was a little apprehensive and unsure just how much I was going to be able to achieve. But I was pleasantly surprised and I have to admit, it’s pretty good. I’ve given it a five point rating for some criteria which I think are important. It scored pretty well.

Ignore my review and go straight to the order page here

3D Boat Design is designed for all versions of Windows, including 98/2000/ME/XP/Vista/Windows 7. It installed painlessly on my Windows XP test machine. For such a sophisticated piece of software I was surprised at the small size of the installation. The exe file is just 2.1MB, smaller in fact, than the manual! I was a little confused by the number of views that it’s possible to have of your hull as you develop it, but fortunately you can switch off the ones you don’t want. There are a number of sample hulls included with the package and it makes sense to experiment with them first, as I did, to get used to the interface.

Is It Intuitive?

It’s not quite as intuitive as I expected and it did take a little while to produce something useful. This is my first attempt. Somehow I managed to duplicate everything and I ended up with a complete mess. The duplicate facility is there for a reason though – it enables you to develop one side of your hull then reproduce an exact mirror image for the other half. But it’s like most software, once you’ve played around with it for a few minutes then it all begins to fall into place. It’s a standard Windows interface so you should have no problems finding your way around.

My rating: Ease of Use: 4/5

It Always Helps To Read The Manual!

Fortunately there’s a very comprehensive manual (right) that starts right at the very beginning for newcomers to CAD. This makes a difference because, as I found, much of the CAD terminology was somewhat foreign to me. I recommend that you read it thoroughly before you begin fiddling with the software, to save yourself an awful lot of time. The manual itself is 57 pages long. Not huge for such a complex subject but certainly enough to get started and working on a variety of projects. The main chapters are: Introduction, shown right, A chapter on viewports, which are the different windows that are used to view your design from different angles. Then follows a highly necessary description of the File and Edit menus. These contain many terms which will be completely baffling if you haven’t read the manual. Then follows a number of chapters that deal, in turn, with how to handle point, edge, curve face and layer operations. It sounds confusing but it makes sense once you start doing it. The final three chapters deal with the tools that are available to help you, how to perform calculations and how and why to do transformations.

There is a well-established forum and user group which it will probably be worth visiting and getting involved in. You can also sign up to their newsletter to remain updated on new developments. I haven’t tested the user-support response time as I didn’t really get stuck anywhere and had no reason to contact them.

My rating: Help & Support: 4/5

Help With Surface Modelling

There’s plenty of instruction on surface modelling  and how to create and modify surfaces, but you do need to experiment for yourself, to get the hang of it. I’m not going to go into a discussion of the details of surface modelling techniques here because, quite frankly, I don’t know enough about it. What I can say, however, is that once I’d learned the knack of developing a surface, most surfaces almost seemed to develop themselves. It’s simply a matter of placing a point on a surface and then pulling it around. OK there’s a bit more to it than that (you’ll learn about points, lines, curves, creases and faces, for starters) but it’s not difficult and actually very enjoyable. One point I would make though, is that your designs are very sensitive to mouse movements. Sometimes, the smallest movement of a point can make a dramatic difference to a surface. My tip would be to go into the Windows control panel and slow down your mouse tracking speed to give yourself a lot more control. Having done that, I found surface development to be a very satisfying operation indeed.

My rating: Productivity: 5/5

Useful Wizards

It’s not all hard slog….some of the work is done for you. Here, for example is the Keel & Rudder wizard, to enable you to create those features simply by entering a few parameters into a few boxes. If you can read the image, you’ll see that it calls it an ‘appendage’. Having created your appendage and viewed its drag and lift graphs, you simply hit ‘Send’ to send it to your hull drawing at your desired insertion point. It can also be used to create hydroplanes and fins. Very useful and very time-saving. There are other useful, no, essential, wizards and tools to help you make your boat design as efficient as possible. You’ll need to know how changes to your hull shape are going to affect draft, displacement and water resistance. These can all be calculated on the fly according to a number of different algorithms. There’s quite a learning curve here but it’s all good interesting stuff and you’ll probably find it as absorbing as I did.

My rating: Tools & Wizards: 5/5

Cool & Useful Tools

Among the other cool gizmos included is this one, I’m showing you the instructions from the manual because when I wrote this I hadn’t yet produced a hull surface to use it on, but it’s so useful I thought you’d want to see it. It’s called ‘zebra shading’ and when switched on, it colors your hull with a series of stripes. By checking the pattern of the stripes you can find areas where your hull is not as smooth as it could be. It’s the same effect you get when you look along the length of a piece of wood to see if you’ve planed it straight, the foreshortening tends to exaggerate any deviations. You need to see it in action to understand it fully, but here’s an extract from the manual to be going on with…

My rating: Useability: 5/5

So…Is it worth the money?

At under $50, 3D Boat Design isn’t exactly going to break the bank and I felt, that for anyone interested in taking their interest in sailing just that step further then it was a valuable and instructive investment. It certainly managed to accomplish everything I asked of it and I had no crashes or blue screens during the six or seven hours I played with it.

Our rating: Value for Money: 5/5

3D Boat Design Software – My conclusion: The current version of 3D Boat Design Software is a very comprehensive package, and an ideal introduction to CAD hull design. It has everything you need to create and develop your own hull designs from start to finish. It probably doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of some of the much more expensive CAD programs but at $49.95 I think it’s well worth the money. It comes with a 60 day 100% money back guarantee, so there seems no reason not to give it a try. And, I haven’t seen any negative reviews of the package, so that’s encouraging too.

Click here to get your own copy of 3D Boat Design!

and get to work on the boat you always wanted!

All material provided on this web site is intended solely for informational or educational purposes. Nothing on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional boat construction advice. Always consult a professional if you are in any doubt about the seaworthiness of any craft you design.

The alternative is to approach a professional boat hull designer to design it for you. What’s wrong with that? Well, for a start, it’s going to cost you an awful lot of money. These guys don’t come cheap. But more importantly, you’re going to be relying on someone else’s interpretation of the catamaran design that you’re looking for. What happens if, after two weeks of this expensive designer’s time, you find that his design is not quite what you’d had in mind?

1.       Are you going to ask him to spend more time (and more of your money) on redoing the design?

2.       Or, in the interests of keeping costs down, are you just going to go with what he’s come up with, even though it doesn’t quite match your ideal?

3.       Or are you just going to pour the money down the drain and abandon the idea?

You can see the problem. I’ve seen the above scenario unfold a couple of times and on both occasions the customer has gone for option 2. The result is that they’ve ended up with a catamaran design which is similar to their original idea, but disappointingly, not quite on the nail.

A much better way to approach catamaran hull design if you’re considering building a catamaran, or having one built for you, is to design it yourself. For less that the cost of one hour of a professional boat designer’s time you can buy purpose-built software that will enable you to realize your ideas for yourself.

‘Don’t talk nonsense!’ I hear you say. ‘I don’t know the first thing about designing a catamaran’. Well, my father taught me to always be somewhat skeptical of claims people make.  Who says catamaran design is specialized business? Well, OK, there’s a bit of a learning curve involved, but I have discovered that it’s not nearly as difficult as people make out. As usual, they’re just protecting their own interests.

Even if you have no experience and are somewhat daunted by the idea, the software will guide you through the process to help you achieve what you’re looking for. I have now designed and built two catamarans using this software and, let me tell you, I’m never going back to a professional for a boat hull design ever again. The pleasure to be had from both designing then building your own catamaran takes some beating let me assure you. And even if you just want to experiment with your ideas at first, you’ll soon gain the confidence to go on and start drawing up your plans for your first catamaran. And once you’ve done one, you’ll find that you can keep churning them out, one after the other. Well, maybe they’re not strictly free, but with freedom to design at your fingertips, they might as well be.

And when you put one of your catamaran designs into production, then you’ll really start enjoying your catamaran sailing like never before!

Click here to get your own 3d Boat Design Software and get started on your project!

Well, think again. There is always room for innovation and new ideas as these shots of the new LCS-2 USS Independence will testify.

Shot one: this is the vessel on trial, clocking up 43 knots at half power. Note the absence of a bow wave. The dolphins are going to be disappointed!

Shot two: Here she is, executing a hard turn to port, again at 43 knots. She remains completely upright with no heeling over at all.

Shot three: A waterline view showing the interesting bow shape and the unusual paint job.

Shot four: Giving all her secrets away in dry dock. As you can see it’s a completely revolutionary design for a vessel of this size.

So if anybody tells you that there’s nothing left to design in the world of boats, yachts catamarans, trimarans, proas, dinghies and kayaks then tell them to think again.

With the 3-D boat design software that we’ve been recommending here all of this is achievable. All you need is $49.95 and a bit of inspiration and perspiration!

If you, like many others, have a dream of building your own boat you probably have some sort of 3d boat design in your head. And whether it’s a yacht, a dinghy or some other sort of craft you’re considering, you’re going to need some plans.

Three dimensions

Now, paper plans don’t allow you to view your boat in three dimensions. If you had some sort of 3d boat design software you could view your prospective craft from all angles it would make life much more easy. And it would make the job much more interesting. Being able to rotate your drawing is a huge advantage. Until recently, this sort of software was available to professionals only and usually cost thousands of dollars.

Learning curve

Well, things have changed. You can now purchase your own 3d boat design software for less than the cost of a lifejacket.  You might think that you just don’t have the skill to design your own boat, but, because this type of software is aimed at the home build community, it is especially easy to use with lots of help to guide you as you progress. It’s true, there is a bit of a learning curve associated with this type of software, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll find that there’s no going back to pencil and paper!

Get designing!

Most people would say that there’s nothing more satisfying than building and then sailing your own boat. Well, there is; and that’s DESIGNING, then building and sailing your own boat.

I’m convinced that this new 3d boat design software is going to mark a sea-change in the types of craft we see on the water. For too long, boat design has been stifled by commercial constraints and considerations related to marketing and sales volumes. For boat builders like you and me, such considerations don’t apply. That’s why I’m looking forward to seeing a whole new generation of ingenious and unusual hull designs.

Click here to get your own copy of 3D Boat Design and get started on your project!

If you have ever thought about building your own boat then the first thing on your list is going to be boat building plans. That goes without saying. But have you ever considered designing your own boat? Why rely on other lepoles designs? Only you know what you really want. It’s a lot easier than you think and can add a whole new dimension to the project.

Design it yourself

What could be more satisfying than sailing a boat with your friends or family that you have built yourself? I’ll tell you; It’s sailing a boat with your friends or family that you have DESIGNED and built yourself!

Ideas

To get started you need to have an idea in your head of the sort of thing you want to build. Many people start off with a small wooden sailing dinghy. Built from marine plywood, boats like this are immensely strong and great fun. Because they’re small they’re usually highly maneuverable which makes them great for club racing. And also because they’re small they can usually be handled very well by children. I’d say from about the age of eleven or twelve upwards.

Sophistication

So, now you have your mental image of what you want, you need some boat building plans. And to draw them up you’ll need some 3d boat design software to bring your ideas to life. Fortunately, such software is easy to come by. It’s inexpensive and easy to use. But because it’s inexpensive, don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s not sophisticated. Like much other software available these days it’s the result of a good deal of development and improvement over the years and much of the development cost has already been amortized.

Experiment

The key is to experiment, test and compare your ideas for speed and buoyancy (the software automatically calculates expected water resistance and hydrostatic load) so you can come up with the fastest, most stable, design you can. Nothing can be more satisfying and, for less than the price of a few pizzas, you’ll never have to buy boat building plans again!

Click here to get your own copy of 3D Boat Design and get started on your project!

This collection of boat and yacht design literature will give you the confidence to get designing and ultimately to start building your own boat! Be patient, it takes a little time to load…

Click on the scroll buttons to see them all.

Click on any book to go straight through to Amazon.com – so you
can buy with complete confidence