Free Boat Plans Are They Worth Anything

Well, what do you think? Not Really.

Curiosity
My Dad used to say "You only get what you pay for". Not very original, I know, but never was a truer word spoken. And it definitely applies to free boat plans. A quick search round the web will reveal a number of sites that offer free boat plans. Some of them are effectively photos of build-it-yourself plans appearing in old sailing magazines, sometimes from sixty or seventy years ago. OK for curiosity interest but hardly much use if you actually want to build it.

Don't Waste Your Time
Others are partial plans, giving you details of some parts of the boat but missing out other (usually crucial) parts. Other websites do the usual internet thing of leading you round a circle of links that never actually get you to any free plans at all. But you'll probably find a collection of plans to buy (for several hundred bucks or more).

My Dad was Right
In my experience, my dad was right. I've never found any free boat plans of any value or use on the Internet.
By far the best way to get the plans you want for the boat that you want is to actually draw them up for yourself. What? You cry - I have no idea how to go about designing a boat. Well, nor had I until I came across some remarkable new software that takes you through the process and gets you up to speed in no time. It also automatically performs hydrostatic calculations, meaning you can see how deep it's going to sit in the water and resistance calculations, meaning you can tell how fast it's going to go and what the effects of any changes to hull shape are likely to be.

Expensive?
Yes but this sort of thing must be expensive, you're probably thinking. Well, it used to be. Specialized software like this would have set you back several thousand dollars in the past. But not any more - the wonders of open-source programming mean that sophisticated programs can be developed on a shoestring and made available to the public at remarkably low prices.

Forget Free Boat Plans
Believe it or not, the software I'm using right now to design a 32-foot sailing yacht for my father-in-law cost me under fifty dollars. I wouldn't even consider free boat plans, using my own software to develop my own boat design ideas is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable things I've ever done.