Small cruiser series, part 3: Building small boats yourself: Types, costs, experience reports

The hobby of building small boats is a world of its own. There are forums and fans, books and magazines as well as meetings of enthusiastic owners - especially in the USA, where there is a lively self-build scene. But even in this country, it is not uncommon for people to work on their own dream boat in garages, workshops or halls until it finally floats.

The appeal is obvious: long - and boring - winter weekends are a thing of the past, individual wishes can be realised, the boat is familiar from the keel seam to the pulpit, and you might even save some money compared to buying a new boat.

But above all, self-build can - and should! - can - and should - be fun if you realistically assess your time and financial resources as well as your own manual skills before you start building.

In the third part of the current series, we show a selection of small cruisers from 12 to 26 feet that were built independently with the help of plans or modular systems and tell the stories of how they came about. The range of boats is wide; from cuddly mini-boats to sporty cruisers, many variants of your own dream boat can be realised.

Part 3 of the series can be read in YACHT 17/2020. The magazine is available in the DK shop, here as a digital edition, or you can download the article directly via the link below.

The topics of the four-part small cruiser series at a glance:

NEW BOATS (YACHT 15/2020)
What the current market offers and what buyers should look out for

USED BOATS (YACHT 16/2020)
Which second-hand cruisers are traded a lot and what makes them special

SELF-BUILD PROJECTS (YACHT 17/2020)
How to make simple sailing boats yourself

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE (YACHT 18/2020)
Why small ships and big experiences are not mutually exclusive

Downloads:

Small cruiser series: Self-build projects (pdf)