Can you make a small wooden sail boat from cedar?

Question

We have a lot of trees we've been removing from our property for one reason or another. Instead of throwing them on the burn pile, I thought I might be able to make something of them.

I've always wanted to make a small wood sail boat. Something along the lines of this:

That's probably not what I'm going to start on as I'll most likely screw something up and have wasted a massive amount of effort. I'll probably start with a canoe.

My question is what type of wood can I use from my property, properly dried of course. I'll either let it air dry or build one of those drying boxes you can build that act like a kind of oven. I love the look of cedar and we have a lot of it, but we've taken down a lot of oak as well and I know it's strong. It would probably be good for the ribs and the big beam along the bottom. (Transom?)

I'm really just starting to look into this, so I don't know the right questions to ask. I assume with the wood, it's simply a strength issue, because it gets coated in fiberglass sheets. I've seen videos where they do that to seal it and when the coating goes on, it makes it look like there is nothing on the wood. This sailboat will only be run on a fresh water river. Thanks for any help. Feel free to include references.

Answer 1

Yes, provided you use fiberglass, and the technique is often called "cedar strip construction". This method of construction is a very forgiving method of building small boats compared to other techniques.

Pretty much any wood will work, though cedar and other rot-resistant woods are better because when you invariably bump into rocks or other stuff, and expose the wood through the fiberglass, that it doesn't rot away between when it gets damaged and you get around to fixing it.

The reason why the wood doesn't really matter is because virtually all the strength of the construction comes from the fiberglass. The wood only serves to keep the two layers of fiberglass separated, in what's known as a sandwich structured composite. In typical fiberglass boat construction, foam is used between the layers, instead of wood.

After the fiberglass is applied, without a gelcoat, it dries to be almost completely transparent.

With all that said, this works well for canoes and kayaks, however sailboats have many extra steps involved as they need to be much more rigid, are much bigger, and have hull shape needs that are challenging to accomplish with cedar strip construction such as provisions for a keel or centerboards.

Answer 2

If you're looking for a simple project you might consider a skin on frame canoe or kayak. Cedar is a good choice for skin boats and actually works better when it's 'green'.

Take a look at skin-boats.com to get some ideas.

Answer 3

Yes you can use both cedar and oak from your property, especially for small boats like canoes and kayaks. You're definitely thinking right in planning to use oak for the keel and frame and cedar for the planked skin. This sort of construction, traditional plank on frame, is quite common for small boats up to about 20 feet in length, and is most likely the construction used for the boat in your picture.

The cedar strip plus fiberglass construction mentioned in another answer is an option, but traditional construction was used for hundreds of years before fiberglass arrived.

Do a little research on the courses offered by the Wooden Boat School in Brooklin Maine. (I have no affiliation with them, but have enjoyed their courses.)