My newest boat is made from recycled bottles. No chit! Check out “rotomolded” hulls, great trainer boats for kids, and such.
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Sailboat
- Thread starter Ashful
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My newest boat is made from recycled bottles. No chit! Check out “rotomolded” hulls, great trainer boats for kids, and such.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
The two biggest makers of Roto Molded dinghies I know are RS and Hartley, both in the UK. Here, the RS brand seems to be better value, and I went with their Zest model for my 8 year old, but I did give one of the Hartley boats a good look. I think I’m having more fun with the boat than the kid is, but I think that will change.
https://www.rssailing.com/en/
https://www.hartleyboats.com
They’re both imported by Zim Sailing in our mid-Atlantic region.
http://www.zimsailing.com
My real love is old wooden racing boats. I
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SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Wow. My wife's grandfather finally got a sail boat that he always wanted, but is now too old to use it. Unfortunately the boat is thousands of miles away in New Mexico.... Also neither of us know how to sail. These tiny boats seem to be an awesome way of affordably learning to sail in a lake. My wife refuses to sail in the Atlantic...
That race boat is gorgeous! Far outside of anything I know anything about. I'm originally from the Mountains, Salt water is a little outside of my normal habitat.
Salt water eats trailers, fresh water eats wood boats. I sail my wood boat in a lake, not ideal.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Ashful, You should come up for the antique boat show this summer. It's one of the largest in the northeast. I grew up around wood boats and to say I miss them is a major understatement!
https://www.abm.org/
https://www.abm.org/index.php/events/antique-boat-show-and-auction/
https://www.abm.org/
https://www.abm.org/index.php/events/antique-boat-show-and-auction/
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Philly has two rivers, and several active sail clubs, plus a half dozen lakes within an hour of the city. I’m not in the city proper, either... I just use the Philly location, as it’s my closest big town.
Started as a response to recycling plastics, my mention of my recycled milk carton boat. [emoji4]
Okay, now that we’ve been Inglenook’d (yes, it is a verb, too), I’ll post the photos of the boat that got us here. A prior Nationals winner, that I restored a few years back, and raced before I had kids. I’m sailing that plastic boat with the kids, until they’re old enough to handle this thing, it is a seriously wild ride.
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Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
Looks beautiful. In a different life I'd like to sail, not for racing, but around the world (or at least around the US and Carribean). Alas, the gumption that would have required was long ago sucked out of me by too many meetings and the corporate life. I don't know how you find the time and energy for everything. But, I do admire...
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Spacebus, you are not that far way from the Wooden Boat School
https://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/
Just remember a boat is hole in the water, surrounded by wood kept afloat with money
I was at Hamilton Marine for the spring sale yesterday, loads of boat folks buying their supplies needed to bring their boats back to life for the season.
I got my boat building out of my system by building a few cedar strip boats, two canoes and two kayaks. I
https://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/
Just remember a boat is hole in the water, surrounded by wood kept afloat with money
I was at Hamilton Marine for the spring sale yesterday, loads of boat folks buying their supplies needed to bring their boats back to life for the season.
I got my boat building out of my system by building a few cedar strip boats, two canoes and two kayaks. I
rowerwet
Minister of Fire
I also have a boat made of recycled plastic bottles, a bit smaller though. It's a Walden paddler 10' kayak.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Spacebus, you are not that far way from the Wooden Boat School
https://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/
Just remember a boat is hole in the water, surrounded by wood kept afloat with money
I was at Hamilton Marine for the spring sale yesterday, loads of boat folks buying their supplies needed to bring their boats back to life for the season.
I got my boat building out of my system by building a few cedar strip boats, two canoes and two kayaks. I
Yeah, boats are big money. It's just a same that's my grandfather in law's boat is going to end up a dealership. It's like a 20+ feet long with a cabin. I know nothing about boats.
Not so! I bought that woodie for under $5k with seven full suits of sails and that trailer. I didn’t track my rebuild costs, but I am pretty sure my total investment is under $10k in that boat and trailer. I did spend a solid 24 months completely disassembling and restoring it, over the course of three years, a lot of late nights and weekends. In this condition it’s still only worth $20k - $25k on the used market, and you don’t need gas money for anything other than your car to haul it.
Lots of guys racing $3k - $5k boats in this class, they’re pretty rough, but they’re fun! For racing, there are advantages of having a rough boat, since trading paint is an almost daily occurrence, and occasional splitting of boats happens.
AlbergSteve
Minister of Fire
Another UK plastic(roto and injection) boat builder is Topaz. The local yacht club that I work at is slowly replacing their small fleet of fiberglass Optis, Lasers, 420s and Bytes - the volunteers are getting tired of spending the winter repairing grp and gelcoat! They tried a Topaz Topper last year and it was a big hit so they're adding a few more this year.
Fifty thousand sold worldwide and they have World Sailing Class.
Fifty thousand sold worldwide and they have World Sailing Class.
Very cool, they look like fun. But don’t get rid of the Lasers! You’re going to still want them in the fleet for the older kids, especially those looking to compete in college, etc.
Heck, I’m thinking of buying a Laser for myself, since it’s not always easy to find crew for my boat. For some reason, there are still people who think getting bruised and bloodied on an old non-ergonomic and crowded racing boat isn’t fun. I could double-deck the Laser and Zest on a single trailer, for racing against or training the kids at the lake.
I’d definitely recommend you check out the RS Zest, or the Hartley 14, if you’re looking at buying more rotomolded boats. The Zest is great for kids, light controls, full rig with jib and vang, swinging centerboard, hard-chined for stability, and even has handles molded into the chines and skegs for easy self-rescue. I’m in love that little boat, even if it’s not the fastest thing I’ve sailed.
Heck, I’m thinking of buying a Laser for myself, since it’s not always easy to find crew for my boat. For some reason, there are still people who think getting bruised and bloodied on an old non-ergonomic and crowded racing boat isn’t fun. I could double-deck the Laser and Zest on a single trailer, for racing against or training the kids at the lake.
I’d definitely recommend you check out the RS Zest, or the Hartley 14, if you’re looking at buying more rotomolded boats. The Zest is great for kids, light controls, full rig with jib and vang, swinging centerboard, hard-chined for stability, and even has handles molded into the chines and skegs for easy self-rescue. I’m in love that little boat, even if it’s not the fastest thing I’ve sailed.
