Plans & Costs
VERSATILITY IN DESIGN
The mainstay and origins of our business is in custom design work. We try to spend the majority of our time
working on new design projects, both custom one-offs and new production designs. The variety of projects
that we've worked on over the last three decades is represented by the small selection shown on these pages.
This variety of projects keeps it interesting for us, and there's nothing quite as refreshing and challenging
as starting a new project - pulling out that fresh sheet of paper and giving form to the ideas and dreams of
the client. Each of the designs has been worked out to meet the needs of a specific client and how they plan
to use the boat. They've usually been through several stock boats and have come to us because they cannot
find what they need available in a stock boat. Our custom layouts are designed for maximum utility and
livability, often for smaller than normal crews. Our custom profiles are expressions of the individuality of
the various owners and not the sort that will be in style today and out of style tomorrow. This results in
considerable versatility in design from our office and keeps us enthusiastic and challenged. It also makes
for the sort of boat that will have lasting value and be a good investment.
Over the years, as we have created more and more ideas to satisfy these individual requirements, we have built
up quite a file of stock plans. As ideas developed in custom designs gradually filter down to be used in stock
boat, a number of our designs are also available as stock production boats.
We hope that the yachts illustrated on this site will entice you to delve further into our designs. We're
having fun creating them and find boats to be a grand way of life.
A WORD OF ADVICE TO OWNER-BUILDERS
What sort of boat is most appropriate for an owner-builder? Should he build a close copy (clone) of a stock
or production boat?
No. Not if he wants to think about getting any sort of reasonable return on his time and money invested.
He should instead think about building a boat that is not available as a stock boat. Something like this
will set his boat apart and give it a unique position in the resale market.
If you really want to own a Clone 40 then he should buy a Clone 40. Perhaps finding one that has been let
go and doing the restoration and maintenance that it requires to bring it back to like-new condition. Or
he could see if the Clone 40 builder sells kits and get the molded parts and pieces that the builder can
do most efficiently. There's no sense in building a mold and a one-off with its very high time demands if
one can get a molded hull that only takes a small number of hours and has an excellent finish built-in.
It's somewhat like the question of whether one should reinvent the wheel.
But, if one wants a unique boat of a more classic or traditional type, the choices in the marketplace are
much more limited. This is an area in which it does make sense to spend the time to do a one-off. There
is a better chance of being able to sell it later on to someone who will pay a reasonable price for a boat
that is different.
"But," you say, "I'm building this boat for myself. I don't care if I ever sell it." That's
all well and good if you don't care about what you do with your money. But, like buying insurance where
you're betting on whether you get sick or die, the money put into a boat should have some insurance of
preserving its value. The way to do that is to do the construction well, with finesse and skill, and build
something that your heirs can sell which adds value to your estate.
So, we come back to my original point; build something that is not commercially available and something
that will have a separate and distinct identity in the marketplace. Many of the plans we have created meet
this criteria....
WHAT ARE STUDY PLANS?
Study plans are a way of looking at the outboard profile and/or sail plan and the accommodation plan of a
boat in larger scale than is shown in our catalog and books. Many find this helpful in being able to scale
various elements of the design to visualize how they would live on the boat and use it before going ahead
with building the boat.
Thus, study plans are the outboard profile drawing (the sail plan on a sailing boat) and the accommodation
plan (what would be called the floor plan in a house). Oftentimes, there's more than one version of a design
and these are usually included in the study plan package. This varying content accounts for the varying
prices listed for the study plans - the higher the price the more sheets of drawings included. The only
exception to this is the Benford 30 set where there are over two dozen versions of the design and we usually
limit the B30 study plan package to two versions. Most of the plans are about two by three feet in size and
printed by the Xerox process on bond paper. Unlike older ammonia process prints, these will not fade when
hung in sunlight.
In the case of the boats that are in our books, there is often more detailed information on the boats in the
books than on the study plans, with the proviso that the drawings are reproduced at a reduced scale. Thus,
the books are the best way to get an overview of the designs and the best place to start. In the Plans
Price List (Insert link) are Book Codes that show which boats are in which books.
ESTIMATING/BID PLANS
For the last three decades we've offered as "study plans" the profile or sail plan and arrangement plan sheets
from our "stock plans" or construction plan sets.
Now, with the increasing complexity of gear available for cruising boats, and raw materials costs continuing
to rise, we've decided to offer an alternative level of plans. These will be between the conceptual pictures
of the designs found in the study plans and the complete building plan sets. They will offer the
prospective owner or builder a way to look over all the information on the plans about the scantlings and
equipment specified. Thus, you will be able to do a better job of estimating the cost in time and materials
to build the boat before committing to the full cost of the stock plans.
Our pricing is primarily based on the number of prints to be provided with a bit of a sliding scale factor
built in to make the smaller boats less expensive.
When you've finished work estimating from the plans and wish to proceed with building the boat, it's then the
time to buy the stock plans. To do this, you may pay the difference between the estimating/bid plans and the
stock plans and have us send the balance of the plans and your authorization or building rights for one boat.
Or, you can pay the full stock plan price and get a complete new set of stock plans sent to you, thus having
duplicate prints for most all of the plans if you need one for the shop and one set for home.
WHAT ARE STOCK PLANS?
Included on this site is a list of our stock plans, current as of the date listed at the beginning. These
are plans that have already been completed for someone else, usually as a custom design. They are offered
"as is" and printed "from stock" and thus the origin of the name stock plans.
Our stock plans usually include the following drawings, as applicable to each boat: Lines Plan; Table of
Offsets; Construction Plan; Sections; Inboard Profiles; Arrangement Plan; Deck Plan; Sail Plan and/or
Outboard Profile; Rigging Details; Rig Plan; Engine, Steering & Tanks; and other details (sometimes
standardized) as required. If the builder has done his homework by reading the boatbuilding books available,
researching and/or working in various boatyards, and has the foresight to build at least a dinghy, if not one
or two small boats before tackling a larger yacht, he'll find that our plans are quite explicit.
In the cases where there is more than one version already designed for the basic hull of one of our stock
plans, these versions are usually included in the stock plan package. Such options may include alternate
cabin profiles, different interiors, rig variations, and/or handy cross-reference information. When
ordering stock plans which have more than one version please specify your preference of rig, interior and/or
choice of construction method or material.
If you don't see what you're looking for on our stock plan list (Insert link to plans price list), please
be sure to give us a call. We'd be happy to work with you on a modified version or a new design especially
for you.
DISPLACEMENT & CONSTRUCTION COSTS
Costs for boatbuilding these days (2002) are fairly directly tied to the volume or displacement (weight) of
the vessel involved. The feedback we've been receiving from our various builders indicates to us that costs
are running from about $3.00/pound for the very heavy displacement types to over $5.00/pound for the lighter
displacement boats. For an example, look at the range of displacements for our 50' designs - they range from
32,750 to 110,000 pounds. Use of the lower $3.00 price times 110,000 gives $330,000 and the higher $5.00
times 32,750 gives $163,750.
These prices are for materials only, exclusive of any hired labor, tools, building site, building shed,
insurance, launching, and inflation over the time during which the vessel is built.
A professionally built boat is running from a low of around $5.00/pound for the very heavy ones to sometimes
well beyond $20 for the lighter ones. This would include the materials above plus the labor to transform
them into a boat, but with no allowance for inflation. This figure can readily be run up, depending on the
level of finish and detail, plus the costs for electronics and other extras that may be added as the boat is
being built. Of course, the costs in a boat can be unlimited, as we all tend to add "just one more" item to
them in an ongoing fashion, but these figures generally include all the basics such as engines, sails, berths,
head and galley.
A Caveat....
We are known to be, perhaps, the most careful and conservative of designers. We take great care in trying to
be sure that the designs are well thought out and detailed. However, there is always the possibility of a
transposition or otherwise incorrect notation slipping by us in proofing the drawings. I remember one
occasion, where ten years after we'd issued a drawing it was pointed out to us that we had the engine
exhausting a couple feet underwater.... We then sent out over 60 notices to builders worldwide to correct
this wrong note. Thus, if anything does not seem right, call or write us and let us know.
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