Building an International Canoe

The Big Picture

The hull is a big chunk of the work when made of wood. It consists not only of the bottom, which at first glance appears to be most of the work, but also the internal structure and deck.

I choose to build my boat from wood. This does not mean sacrificing performance or weight. A minimum weight is required by the rules to ensure that boats are built that will last. The closer to this minimum weight the better since a lighter boat will be faster. To achieve the minimum weight required by the rules some correctors are allowed. As the boat is constructed, careful thought must be applied to minimize the amount of material used but still have a boat that is stiff enough to last.

Time and Money

It comes as a surprise to many people that the hull is not the most expensive part of the boat. In fact it constitutes a fairly small percentage of the total.

10% of money spent on hull

[TODO table of cost goes here.]








The hull does take up a good chunk of the total time in construction though.

53% of time spent on hull
Time
Backbone 5 hours
First Layer 40 hours
Second Layer 60 hours
Fairing Bottom 20 hours
Sealing Insides and Installing Bulkheads 50 hours
Bow Sprit Tube 10 hours
Finishing Topsides (routing, sanding, epoxy) 15 hours
Varnishing ? hours
200+? hours