I've bought a mould for a boat !

TimBennet said:
But the drive to 'harmonise' these standards to facilitate trade was then seized ( mainly by UK academics and underemployed firms of naval architects looking for another revenue stream), to grow into an all encompassing, all controlling behemoth. EU and UK governments had almost no input, with it here being palmed off to Trading Standards to enforce.
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For a small engineless boat as proposed by the OP, how onerous are the requirements? I would have thought it would be sufficent buoyancy, stability, towing point, plate, manual, serial number - and that's about it. Can builders of category D craft self certify?
 
Not particularly onerous for Cat D and small builders can self certify. Have a look at www.ceproof.com for details of RCD and procedures. As already noted, BMF and RYA provide assistance for those who want to comply.

At that end of the market it is not just the bureaucracy, but the difficulty of keeping costs down to a level that makes the product viable. Gone are the days when you could knock up GRP hulls in a backyard from cheap materials and sell to a market starved of product. Plenty of usable small boats around at low prices. Just look at the prices asked for the few new hard dinghies and small rowing boats that are on the market and you will see why it is not a very attractive business.
 
New projects are always exciting. Existing half finished projects less so. Can i politely suggest that you finish your current web site, make some profit, concentrate on making profit rather than being everyones best mate / problem solver, then when you have shown yourself and your wife that you can actually do rather than dream, embark on your next venture.
 
Thanks for that and thanks Angus_ points to follow up. Lots of small tenders for sale. Not so many large ones. Large will only be useful if light. I have a design in mind and raw materials costing 400 GBP. Not a big gamble for a prototype.

Comrade,
As for dreaming_ At least I am a dreamer of the day. Do you know how hard it is to get an invention to market?

Suguru took 10 years and I can make that stuff in the garage. Just bought some of the expensive stuff to compare to my knocked up gunk. Suguru is a bit more adhesive, but MUCH more expensive.

Don't understand your other comments about friend's etc _ it is a lack of friends and contacts that is stopping some worthy inventions hitting th uk market.

Tranona said:
Not particularly onerous for Cat D and small builders can self certify. Have a look at www.ceproof.com for details of RCD and procedures. As already noted, BMF and RYA provide assistance for those who want to comply.

At that end of the market it is not just the bureaucracy, but the difficulty of keeping costs down to a level that makes the product viable. Gone are the days when you could knock up GRP hulls in a backyard from cheap materials and sell to a market starved of product. Plenty of usable small boats around at low prices. Just look at the prices asked for the few new hard dinghies and small rowing boats that are on the market and you will see why it is not a very attractive business.
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gadget user said:
Lots of small tenders for sale. Not so many large ones. Large will only be useful if light.
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That suggests one of two things. First there is no demand for a "big tender" or second nobody has made one successfully at a price that is attractive. Think you will find it is the former rather than the latter.

Most tenders are sub 10' because that is the optimum needed to fulfil the role. Little value in having a larger boat because you do not need the capacity and the weight and cot make them less desirable. Plenty of larger dinghies around, just not used as tenders.
 
The problem with a lake rowing boat hull as a yacht tender is the lack of stability as the last person steps up onto the yacht - and on most modern yachts the topsides are high. The hull form that makes a good tender is not the same as a boat that rows nicely on a pond. That's why inflatables are so popular: they don't capsize as you step on the side. Also they don't scratch yacht sides. The hull mould you have also seems to have quite low bows: again not a characteristic of a boat that may have to go through waves.

You can probably make a pretty, nice-to-row lake boat, but that is a very limited market.
 
jwilson said:
The problem with a lake rowing boat hull as a yacht tender is the lack of stability as the last person steps up onto the yacht - and on most modern yachts the topsides are high. The hull form that makes a good tender is not the same as a boat that rows nicely on a pond. That's why inflatables are so popular: they don't capsize as you step on the side. Also they don't scratch yacht sides. The hull mould you have also seems to have quite low bows: again not a characteristic of a boat that may have to go through waves.

You can probably make a pretty, nice-to-row lake boat, but that is a very limited market.
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Yes, but no but yes, no but.......
WHO says it is a lake rowing boat. It looks very like the hull of my old 10 foot clinker grp hull that used to take me 1 nm to my swinging mooring in 3 foot waves sometimes quite happily. It has a long keel almost surely_ doesn't it? Look at the photos again.
In fact it remined me of the old whalers or the boats on the deck of HMS Victory.
 
Tranona said:
Most tenders are sub 10' because that is the optimum needed to fulfil the role. Little value in having a larger boat because you do not need the capacity and the weight and cot make them less desirable.
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If I had a swinging mooring, and somewhere to keep the tender, I would want the biggest I could reasonably get in order to bring people and gear aboard in one dry trip.

However, both the tender storage areas I know of have a maximum length rule, in order to make fair use of the space.

Pete
 
prv said:
If I had a swinging mooring, and somewhere to keep the tender, I would want the biggest I could reasonably get in order to bring people and gear aboard in one dry trip.

However, both the tender storage areas I know of have a maximum length rule, in order to make fair use of the space.

Pete
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You have hit the nail on the head. While a larger tender is good to just go out to a mooring it is impractical for other reasons. Too heavy and unwieldy, difficult to store and you can't take it with you. In some harbours you can keep a tender on an outhaul from a pier and then a 12-14' is very practical. Popular in parts of Poole Harbour before the marinas were built and because there were no restrictions on weight, possible to have a nice little Stuart Turner for power. Real "gentleman's" yacht tender, although many of them were used to get out to X Boats kept on moorings.
 
gadget user said:
Yes, but no but yes, no but.......
WHO says it is a lake rowing boat. It looks very like the hull of my old 10 foot clinker grp hull that used to take me 1 nm to my swinging mooring in 3 foot waves sometimes quite happily. It has a long keel almost surely_ doesn't it? Look at the photos again.
In fact it remined me of the old whalers or the boats on the deck of HMS Victory.
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Fine. Go ahead. Report back in a couple of years.
 
One piece of advice :- do the maths before you go any further.
I was going to build a well establish small cruiser, moulds and plans all available, work premises sorted, all the materials sourced etc, then I did the maths :eek: totally unviable in this country you would not cover your costs even if you managed to sell a few at 7-10K more than the Poles do them for.
Just buy a cheap boat and go sailing ;)


gadget user said:
But it is not that big.

Was a gamble. Will I be able to make a boat from it and make a profit and so on.

But as I love all things boaty and love being practical and have no sense, I bought it. As I have to find an income, I am trying all sorts of schemes.

I am now going to attempt to design some unique selling points for it. I will be trying to make it strong but light, probably a composite. I do good work and will have to be sensible and not spend too much time making a particular piece of wood look beautiful and realise that I am in it to make a business.

A lot of reading to do and sourcing of cheap suppliers of poly resin and chopped strand mat, not to mention release agent, gel coat........

It has been a while since I used poly and epoxy and I did repairs, not boat creation.

I have lots of fittings kicking around, so could make a sailing dinghy. I am thinking maybe a bit like a Drascombe.

Any comments helpful or otherwise? Any tips? Not the best time of year to contemplate a layup.

I hope to have fun designing (that is what I love). Be even better if I manage to pop a good boat. BE REALLY great if I get someone to buy a boat before I start. Will have to draw up some fancy designs and get round the sailing clubs.
PICS below (only had a key ring camera with me - my phone does not do photos).
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