Materials List

Materials can end up being very picky and regional, so I'm thinking here, we could add inexpensive wood types that have worked for those in various locations.

To build the UNPDR you need the following materials:

hull and mast

  • 1 sheet of 4'x8' 3/8" plywood
  • 2 sheets of 4'x8' 1/4" plywood
  • 4 8'x1"x1" boards for ChineLogs
  • 2 tubes of PL Premium or 1 12oz bottle of TBIII (these are glues)
  • 1 14'x2"x4" with few knots for the mast

sail and rigging

  • 10'x10' polytarp for the sail

* (Typar House Wrap. You can probibly pick up a scrap piece at a building site for free.)

  • 30' of 1/4" rope for rigging
  • 2 small blocks (pulleys)

Comments (Michael Storer)- I don't recommend Typar for anything but a very basic sail as it is a nonwoven material - when it stretches it does do in all directions so with more wind pressure the sail turns into a distorted bag. With a woven cloth like polytarp you can use tension in the sail edges to move the depth of the sail where you want it.

Also cutting a sail with a nice shape is easier with a woven cloth sail as you can make some educated guesses about where the shape will end up. You can't with Typar or Tyvek.

Plywood Types

DISCUSS PLYWOOD TYPES HERE. Keep in mind the goal is accessible, so emphasize cheap.

5.2mm Luaun by Andrew Linn

This is a lightweight, fairly flimsy, barely exterior grade (some are listed as 'moisture resistant') plywood that sells for about $11/sheet at many Lowes. Build your whole boat out of it - it is great. You can even laminate it together and make your foils out of it. An entire boat will weigh less than 80lbs.

Go light - you'll love it. If Eskimos hunt whales in boats made of skin - surely we can sail boats made of 5.2 Luaun.

Home Depot

You can purchase plywood from Home Depot. The trick is to be very selective and look for sheets that have few PlywoodVoids?, few cracks, and few knots. HD seems to have 1/4" and 3/4" sheets with 3 layers each. More layers is much better, but harder to come by and more expensive.

Austin, TX

note from Jeremy - I bought my wood from Home Depot. There's a place here in town that sells marine grade plywood but when I called it was about 3 times the cost.

Rope Types

PUT NOTES ABOUT ROPE HERE

note about the term sheet - You'll hear the term "sheet" thrown around. This is just a sailing term for "rope".

Cheap Rope from Home Depot

note from Jeremy - I've sailed using the cheap nylon rope that you can buy in a package from HD. It's not great on the hands, though, so I'm looking to upgrade to better rigging.