My problem though is that I enjoy a creative project, and something to plan for. Maybe I should just build a model airplane!

You are on to it David! (But here in NZ I thought we called them aeroplanes.)

I just built 13 model dinghies and haven’t had so much fun since I got my first bike. Compared with something bigger, they take no time at all!

Scott- here’s how it goes. You set up your frames and bulkheads, and think “wow – this is not going to take long at all”. You plank it up, and think “wow, I’ve almost finished building a boat and it only took me less than a year”.

Then the hard work starts. And that’s where many of these projects stall.

A sharpie hull will be somewhat easier to build than a SIBLIM. But the hard thing is this: thinking and worrying about building the hull is not seeing the big picture. Building the hull is not half, maybe not even a quarter of what it takes to build a complete boat.

Annie's blog describes brilliantly not just the creative process, but also the difficulties and the "hard yards" - which grow to the power of three as a function of length.

[Here's a little maths lesson. 8m to the power of three is 512. Compare with 10m to the power of three which is 1,000.  It is tempting to think "All that work to build an 8m boat, why not just make it just a couple more metres and get so much more accommodation etc..." Yeah, right. You will certainly get much more. And the increase in time and cost will be roughly in the proportion of 1,000 compared with 512. About twice as much.]

The designer of SIBLIM says “first build a dinghy” and I would agree – and take it further by suggesting you buy yourself a sheet of 3mm ply and first build a model of your dream 10m vessel. It will take you only a couple of days to build the hull (that shows how much size really does matter) and you will learn a great deal from that. Leave the deck off – sand it and paint it, and do a little improvised interior. That will take you a bit more than a couple of days, but still not long, and you will begin to get some perspective – and inspiration too.

I think David and Annie commenced Fanshi by building a model - I came across it, left behind unwanted, in the shed, after Annie’s launching. I thought it was a lovely little thing and badly wanted to take it home with me but had nowhere to keep it.

I wonder what happened to it?

Build a model first. Build a model sharpie and a model SIBLIM and then you will soon see that SIBLIM is not such an easy build – but you will also see that building the hull is, anyway,  only the first step in the process. In the end you won't save much merely by building the simplest - but you will save much by building the smallest.

The suggestion of a model is not to discourage. It will inspire.

Sorry, Scott, I have to say that I think that any boat of this size shouldn't be a first build. It needs working up to. I've been saying to people for a very long time, it seems: "first build a dinghy, then a 20ft, then you'll be ready for the 'big one' ". I let myself be persuaded in the case of Peter Manning and Malliemac, and it took him 11 years to complete a professionally built hull and deck, starting from having only a few skills and learning the rest on the job. He died, sadly, before he got any appreciable amount of payback for all his hard work. If you want to spend the rest of your life building a boat, though, just as a project, then fine, go for it. But maybe you'd be well advised to buy plans from a professional designer who offers a full "hand-holding" service throughout the build. At my age, I can't guarantee to be able to do that, through what would be at least a five year project starting in 2025. I'm not immortal!

David,

When I bought my current boat, I made a promise to myself that I would build the next one. I think I would like to build a boat around 30 feet. Since I am 6' 1" tall it would be really nice to have the standing headroom you described.

What I am trying to say is that I am interested in this new design. I have a few things I still want to do with my current boat, but before 2025 I would like to start building a boat.

After reading the construction section of 'The Sharpie Book' by Reuel Parker and studying some of the details of the Hogfish lines I convinced myself that building a 30-ish foot HF is something I could do.

Can you speculate about the relative difficulty of building your design compared to a 30 foot sharpie? Do you think your plans would be suitable for a first time boat builder with very basic wood working skills?

Scott.

Side decks?  Hmm.  More complexity and less flexibility with the accommodation.  There are few things more annoying than having the carlin hitting you in the back of the neck. I assume that the stowage you have shown is under these? 

I would be inclined to put the chart table where you have shown stowage, forward of the heads, to port.  It will get incorporated into the galley far too often, where it is, and if there are electronics there, is too close to the chance of spillages to my taste.

It will be tricky dining at the table, from the port settee and, I have to say, that one of the most wonderful things on FanShi is having a proper, walk-in cabin instead of having to post myself into bed.

Of course, each to their own - no-one would ever accuse me of being washy-washy in my ideas about boats' accommodation!

David Tyler wrote:

Some more images, as the design develops to incorporate a wish for side decks at no more than 15˚ to the horizontal, and 6ft 6in headroom in the galley, 6ft 1in in the saloon. 

Dammit, this boat is looking so good, a lot of good features to make an excellent shallower draft purpose designed junk rig cruising yacht. I need to talk some sense into myself so I don't want to rush off and build one. The shallow draft keel is almost exactly as on 'Footprints', which gave 1 meter draft, but seemed to go to windward perfectly acceptably for a cruising yacht.

The keel on 'Footprints' had an endplate which protruded about 100 mm either side of the keel. I always imagined that this endplate helped with leeway resistance. Now having experienced the effectiveness of the small inward facing skegs on our catamaran which essentially stop any leeway when going to windward I have no doubt that the endplate on the bottom of the keel on 'Footprints', (and 'Shoestring') present an inward facing corner which makes the shallow keel more effective when going to windward.

Do I see a little bit of 'Tystie' in this design?