How to Make a Sailboat out of Styrofoam

How to make a sailboat at home. This is a 2 person catamaran that sails wonderfully and was made for under $200. Similar to a PVC catamaran/ sailboat but made of styrofoam, the cheapest alternative to a homemade boat


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[rdc]

Great demonstration of what can be done with simple materials and a creative brain! You must have heard "that can't be done" so many times....

[tomd.]

Josh, saw this video after countless other "styrofoam" boat videos. I liked you idea so much, I'm currently building a 12' LOA with a 7.5' beam version of your boat. I'm going to use 2" foam instead of 1" for better floatation and load capacity. I'm also going to wrap the pontoons in "poor man's fiberglass" for durability. I've aquired a 14, 5' fiberglass mast from a windsurfer and going to make a boomless sail. Hoping to have it done in a couple weeks. If all goes well in her maiden voyage across Barnegat Bay, I'll post up some video. Thanks for the great idea!

[adbeck]

I'm digging the idea. It could definitely take some innovation but it has a very practical and cheap design. Lovin' it

[crpth]

Nice. I particularly liked the concept of the foam panels in vertical position rather than the more common horizontal. That alone made the video worth. :-)

[WMichaelDeJonge]

Just curious, when sailing, did you find that it would perform pretty well without the daggerboard? It seems that with those narrow hulls, it wouldn't really need the daggerboard.

[kriiigern]

Great work! One of the best designs i have seen. In terms of easy, few materials.. Great idea!

[shimxxl]

I had thought you'd lost your mind but I am truly impressed with your build.

[jjoo]

Nice! That is a simple inspirational design to begin with. It is a good start. Good size sails for the boat.

[Wisdomofautumn]

Nice video and nice job! I’ve been wanting build my own sailboat, so I may have to try this!!

[sinequanon]

Good proof of concept...obviously not made for longevity but it works and apparently works quite well. Thumbs up.

[rimshotdc]

BRILLIANT ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT SO MUCH FOR THE IDEA..

[GoBuildIdeas]

Really cool!looking good! I built a raft too recently! Being on the water like this is SO good!

[ricardomaya]

great vid, ,yes simple and quick builds

[juliandorrell]

👍 Nice concept to reality build. Simple enough that even a young teen with some tools skills and knowledge could build.
I mention this because as a young man I wanted to build a sunfish sailboat and have the plans but could not do everything on my own.
One question though, how did you get the mast and sails?

[thekryger]

I think I’m going to build this for a physics project this year! Thanks a lot!

[kusnezoff]

cool build man. one of a few things I would do is put a wooden dowel in place of the lower bolt for your rudder board so it can break out just in case you hit a reef or sand bar log etc. that will allow it to pivot up, well I think you get the point. I would do something like that for your dagger board make it pivot on the retract and have a wooden dowel in it to keep it in place and again just in case it can break out and allow your board to pivot up and not damage the boat very much if at all. you have the front up so your weight balance is good your nose is not diving into the water so it looks pretty good. I am going to build a boat if we can ever get back to the Philippines the virus really sucks.

[lyovmyshkin]

Hey Josh, this is awesome, thanks for sharing! After seeing this, I'm going to build some outriggers (for sailing kayaks and canoes) similar to your amas, but maybe with thin, treated plywood that I seal and paint (or do it up with "poor man's fiberglass" like some of the foamie boats I've seen). I've been looking for a good way to do it and I think you're onto something here.

[erchu]

Very good idea, giving people a good inspiration

[GAG]

I'm sure someone else has already mentioned this, but I don't see any waterproofing of the wood at all, solid woods will warp and plywood will separate unless all the wood is completely and thoroughly waterproofed.

[peterxyz]

Wow!!! Yes! Awesome idea! My dream cat can fly at low cost!