Home > Boat > Links > Free Plans

Here are links to all the free boat plans I could find on the internet. Also be sure to check out my One Sheet Boat Links as most of them are free plans. If you want some model boat plans instead, see the model boat page!

First of all, the pdracer has been many peoples introduction to boatbuilding, easy and cheap, with many different free plans available.

Of course if I'm missing something, or in case of dead links, don't hesitate to contact me!

Hosted on this site: Blackly, a camping dinghy for sail and oar. Herring Skiff, free plans for an outboard skiff.

Index

Kayak plans

Ganymede and Io - An adult and childs kayak from Guillemot Kayaks - a highly respected kayak builder and designer.
Laker kayak *****
also here on duckworks.
Siskiwit Bay
Siskiwit Bay, multichine version *
Igdlorssuit *
Freeship file.
Goodnow *
Freeship file.
Three aleutian kayak plans *
PakYak ****
Free plans for a skin on frame kayak that can be taken apart to be transported.
Hard to tip (Northwind) ***
PodYak *
Here's a building log of one.
King Canvasback ***
A skin on frame kayak.
Plyak ***
small plywood kayak.
Canvasback ***
skin on frame
hunting kayak ***
folding kayak ***
also as an msword document.
baidarka offsets *
Dougs boat page, 2 plans
The Qivitoq and the #11 design.
No 11
a yet unnamed design. stitch and tape kayak
Huntington Harbor
Super easy to build using ordinary lumber and gorilla glue.
Some Italian kayak plans, in google translator.
Retrieval, skin on frame version
In translator.
Retrieval, ply version
Erica
ply kayak, note that there are multiple pages (continue, on the bottem)
Michela second
Skin on frame kayak.
scoutyak
Look way down the bottom of the pdf file.

Canoe/pirogue/duckboat/other pointy boat plans

Katie Beardie, decked sailing canoe, stitch and glue. Build thread.
A light sculling training boat
Lazy weekend canoe
Ply, easy to build.
15 dollar sailing canoe
Malecite St John River Canoe*
Strip built.
Passamaquoddy Ocean Canoe*
Jem DK-Touring canoe *****
stitch and glue, great plans!
cheap canoe *****
A canoe you can build ****
Simple tortured ply, clear instructions. Here is a page with some examples.
Wacky Lassie ****
simple to build.
Dugout
Pirogue ***
Lots of nice old plans on this site (no more boats though).
Notus *
This is really a FreeShip tutorial but you basically end up with plans. Sailing canoe! Zip file also includes the malecite canoe lines.
pintail ***
ply, duckboat, (like a wide kayak).
redwood canoe ***
Strip planked.
little chief ***
canvas covered, old plans.
glide easy ***
Glass over tortured ply, old plans.
blue bill ***
canvas covered, old plans, canoe/kayak hybrid.
12' pirogue canoe
send an email to receive the full plans.
the classic cajun pirogue **
taped seams ply. These are the full plans, except for measurements! Very good instructions though.
Cinderella **
Stitch and glue, multichine canoe.
Tribulato canoe [zip file, 81kb] **
Gladys *
Offsets for a plywood canoe
easyB **
a strip built canoe
Imp ***
stitch and glue. a lovely little multichine canoe
Bolger Peero ***
Plans for a sailing pirogue.
How to build a canvas covered canoe
Scanned pages of a very old book.
Paper canoe
Why not!?

Small row boats

Robin, Skin on frame pram with ply bottom.
Dinky Dink, Small stitch and glue dinghy.
Pippie 8
"tack and tape" construction, 3 sheets of ply.
Trifecta
Ply, "Tape and glue". 3 Modular designs in one; tadpole, guppy and tripod.
Pod2 and Big Pod
Ply, 2 more modular designs.
Plywood Coracle
Portuguese style dinghy *****
Tape and glue, 1.5 sheet skiff.
Minu Auray Punt **
1.5 sheet punt.
Mini Ekstock **
1.5 sheet punt.
Dinghy 57 **
Stitch and glue version of old boat.
Forest and stream skiff ***
Stitch and glue skiff design.
Another Forest and Stream Skiff
apple pie ***
Stitch and glue pram, 2.1m (7'). Check out this finished example!
micro folding dinghy
Plywood/canvas folding pram.
Dinghbat *
Stitch and glue, Coordinates for a heavy displacement pram.
Light dinghy
Ply pram dinghy.
Ensign's gig
Ply, small skiff.
Plywood lath coracle
A canvas covered circular boat thing.
3 piece boat ***
Chine log construction, folds into 3 pieces, handy! 2.1m (7')
wheelie willie
Planked scow, designed to be easy and cheap to build, 2.44m (8')
car top boat ***
Chine log, pram, 2.4m (8')
cork ***
Chine log, pram designed for fishing, 2.7m (9')
Build a 3 dollar scow**
Planked scow, very old instructions (1876).
Jolly Roger ****
Chine log, old magazine plan.
junior ***
chine log, multi-purpose dinghy.
handy andy ****
Ply/canvas folding dinghy, old magazine plans.
two rowing boats
The first: 11' ply rowboat(***), the second: 12' ply rowboat (**).
Jolly Roger ****
Ply or planked. little 8 foot skiff.

Big row boats

Julie Skiff ****
Stitch and glue, the intheboatshed.net flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff. The first one has been built!
Ella Skiff **
Stitch and glue, smaller 12ft version of the Julie Skiff.
Sunny skiff
plans for building a 14ft lightweight flattie
ozark johnboat
Large scow type boat, planked construction.
Build a 5 dollar skiff.
Old instrutions. Planked.
Build a 9 foot Sharpie
Old instructions, planked.
oarmouse
Stitch and glue, a fast 14ft one-man rower.
cruising mouse
Stitch and glue, stretched mouse boat.
scoutcanu
Chine log. This is a two sheet design, kinda like an open kayak
Build a 5 dollar skiff
Planked skiff, very old instructions (1876). The big images have dissappeared but if you contact me I can send them to you.
white duck
Planked, rowing skiff.
rapid robert***
A ply skiff (McKenzie river boat) for use in rapids
Wooden fishing boat designs *
Some planked boat drawings.
Duckskiff *****
Ply, row or motor skiff, designed with duckhunting in mind.
anyones boat ***
Planked, skiff designed for super easy building (before the days of plywood :-).
Elf *
Stitch and glue, v-bottom skiff.
Thames Rowing Skiff **
Clinker? built, 21 foot traditional Thames rowing skiff.
Thames Racing Punt **
Traditional 30 foot Thames racing punt.
Flat bottomed swamp boats ***
Hannu's Boatyard, ply/epoxy.
10.5 foot skiff
Stitch and Glue, 2 sheets of ply. Hannu's Boatyard
12 foot skiff
Stitch and Glue, 2 sheets of ply. Hannu's Boatyard
14 foot rowing punt
15'8" fishing punt

Undecked sailing boats

S-230 "Perkoz"
Stitch and glue skiff, polish web page. Very nice plans and even building instructions!
Skippy
Stitch and glue skiff
Tern
24' glued lapstrake exploration ketch.
Rime ****
Chine log, ultra-simple scow hull. Wonderful instructions!
d4 dinghy ****
Stitch and glue pram. This one has been built a lot. 2.38m (7'10")
little breton
Ply stitch and glue/lapstrake, little pram.
wrinkle dinkie ****
A small double ended canvas covered boat. Also pictures of one made with polytarp instead of canvas. 2.44m (8')
sea midge
Chine log, small pram, 2.44m (8')
kingfisher
Chine log pram, 2.7m (9')
bannock ***
Chine log pram
graefin 10
Stitch and glue pram.
optimist plans
Ah, the famous optmist pram!
Original optimist plans
In a magazine from that time. Scroll down the page.
How to construct a simple boat
A scow made in the traditional way, no plywood. Great instructable.
Skate
8' skiff.
Scow *****
Stitch and glue scow, excellent instructions! Great boat with lots of safety flotation.
4.2m skiff ****
Stitch and glue, the name says it all.
sea skiff
The first (sea skiff) is a multi-purpose ply skiff, the second a strip-built motorboat.
Electric shock **
Chine log skiff.
4.0m dayboat ****
Stitch and glue, dayboat, lugsail.
Blondie ****
A stitch and glue small sailing boat, one of my favourites!
summer breeze *****
A small skiff made from 2 sheets of plywood.
patty ***
Lapstrake, small skiff, old magazine plans.
Blackfly **
Ply lapstrake, very very pretty design. A camping dinghy for sail and oar. Right here on this site! Also check out another great Blackfly dinghy.
bingo --
Ply multi-purpose dinghy, old plans.
frosty
Ply, 9 foot dinghy.
Light Trow
Stitch and glue/chine log hybrid :-) Very nice daysailer. Also see a finished example!
Light Trow mark 2
breeze baby
Ply, 12 foot sailing/rowing/motor skiff
sea skiff
Ply, multi-purpose skiff. 13'9". Also as a pdf [2.2 mb]
biloxi dinghy ****
chine log with planked bottem dinghy. 10.6ft
10 foot clinker built double ended skiff.
Shannon
Ply lapstrake, yawl rig. 17.5ft.
DH Boat ****
Chine log, 2 sheet double ended boat design.
Eek A Mouse***
An alternative to the optimist dingy.
Sandy
A 18.5' double ended sharpie, old plans.

Decked sailing boats

PDRacer Plans
Ply, 3 different professional quality plans. By Ken Simpson, Jim Michalak and John Welsford!
Ella skiff - sailing version ****
Stitch and glue, 12 foot sailing flattie.
Rodent
Ply, "An easy, inexpensive sailboat for a young person".
Sandpeeps
Stella
Really small "sit in" sailboat with ballasted keel.. Strip or clinker. See here.
Bridget
Small sailboat that uses optimist rig and foils. See here. Strip or ply.
Fiona, Coreen, Sonia, Brenda, Rhiannon, Connie, Grace, Shannon.
Strip plank, clinker and ply designs, each available in various sizes.
Eddy Cat
13' sailboat, old, not much info.
sharpie *
A 6m sharpie, old racing design, still sailed today.
Australian Lightweight Sharpie Plans
This is the southern hemisphere version of the above, light and fast!
E=MCX
Ply dinghy, designed for the Italian "10 pidi" class. In Italian, but here is the page translated.
NZ Moth
Ply scow racing dinghy.
1940's mkII moth design, and Cole Super Moth **
Ply moths. Scow type hull.
Australian Moth
Wanna build a realy fast boat? You found a couple then!
Flashheart moth **
Hydrofoils... So you wanna go really fast!!
Gidge Gandy's Groovin Garvey (sandspur)
Planked scow.
missile ****
Ply double ender, 19 foot Racer. Old plans.
Flying mouse
Stitch and glue, a sailing version of the popular mouse boat.
expedition mouse [.zip file, 394 kb]
Stitch and glue, stretched flying mouse.
hot rat
Chine log, scow-type hull. Designed to give sailors a fun ride, yet very simple to build.
the edge
Stitch and glue, scow type hull with slight v-bottom. Sprit sail.
Wildcat
Stitch and glue, a fast sailing boat that uses a windsurf sail.
St Michaels sailing scow **
An old racing scow, also see this page for more info.
conga ***
Chine log, old, a 12foot sailing knockabout.
crescent
Ply, a very large day-sailer.
tramp ***
ply dinghy, 15ft.
mini-cup *****
nice plans for a board-boat, like the sunfish. lots of info on the internet. Video
3.8m dinghy ****
Stitch and glue dinghy, 3.8m.
4.5m dinghy ****
Stitch and glue sailing dinghy.
Sztrandusia ****
Ply or stitch and glue. Cruising and sport versions (with trapeze and spinnaker). Site in Polish.
snorky **
Ply, 14foot sailing scow.
tiny bear ****
Ply, old magazine plan. A 10foot junior moth class sailing scow.
dart ****
Ply, old magazine plan. fast sailing design.
tabu ****
Ply, fast sailing scow with trapeze, old plans.
falcon ****
Ply, old plan, 14 foot dinghy.
Sea Flea
Ply, old magazine plan, board boat.
Jamaican
Ply, old magazine plan, board boat.
manu
Ply, 20 foot racing scow with hiking board. Old plans.
tern ***
Ply, sailing scow. Old plans.
zipper
a big 22' fast sailing scow, old plans
Super Sunray
zephyr ****
Ply, 14 foot international dinghy class. old plans.
Nethercott International Canoe plans
Send a self-addressed envelope and get the plans, for a very fast boat! Also building tips etc.

Multihulls

Triciclo 2.0 Another 10 foot class trimaran.
Mister Bean, another italian 10 foot class trimaran.
Uffa 10 (on 10' website)
Uffa 10, 10 foot trimaran.
Trix, plywood trimaran.
How to Build a Timber Outrigger Canoe
Wood/ply. Produced by the FAO.
Helena
plywood catamaran, solid bridgedeck
Tarja
Strip or lapstrake trimaran.
Triciclo 2.0
10' ply trimaran, in italian.
DS12, an F12 catamaran design ****
Also see this gallery of one being built and sailed.
Tornado Catamaran
Thats right, free plans for a tortured ply olympic class catamaran!
P5 Proa ****
Stitch and glue proa.
P3 Proa ***
Ply proa, very small (10 foot)
pontoon boat ****
Stitch and glue pontoon boat.
Pati A Vela
Cool catamaran that is sailed rudderless.
sea mite
Ply, a kind of almost-catamaran. 12ft.
Cats Paw ****
Ply catamaran. Simple hull design.
hobby kat ****
Ply catamaran. Based on the hobie cat.
how to build a cheap 16' catamaran
20 foot trimaran
Ply trimaran.
King Kat
Ply, simple to build catamaran with lateen rig.
How To Build Catamarans
Very old article, 1878.

Cabin boats

Spray 700
Incomplete, 7m radius ply with steel keel. Cruiser.
Analytic
10m steel yacht.
Pirate
17 foot cabin sharpie, old plans.
Polliwog
18 foot sloop, old plans.
Dorothy
24 foot motorsailor, old plans.
splinter ***
A 'sailing toothpick', kind of like a sailing canoe. Has springboards instead of a trapeze and a ballasted keel. Old plans.
Coot
A 22' Chesapeake Bay Sharpie
Sztrandek
A 4.95m pocket cruiser, made for cruising along the coast. Sleeps up to 4! Click on 'polish version' and scroll down the page for photos, click them for building photos. Also see this page of tips.
Sztrandek long voyage
Based on Sztrandek, designed for 2 people planning long voyages.
Sztrandusia - sails 500 ****
Ply, 5m ballasted racer ("Zagle 500 class") Nice big Gennaker! Site in Polish.
Sztranduś
A small 4 meter pocket yacht. The 'little brother' of Sztrandek. There is a picture of one built here. And Jim Michalak's website (15October 2012) has another two pics!!
pilgrim 590
Ply, a nice trailer yacht.
kavalier 800
Bigger version of the above.
@ 650
A 6.5m proper cruising yacht. A few variations (centreboard/bilge keels etc)
S 750
The largest in this family of cruisers at 7.5m.
bonnie
Offline;, 18 foot plywood cabin sloop. Old plans
petrel **
Ply, 16 foot trailer yacht. Old plans.
starlite **
Ply, 27 foot motorsailor. Old plans. Here is more info.
Blue Moon
Ply, 16ft cabin cruiser, old plans.
gypsy **
Ply, "proven motorailer design". 24 foot. Old plans.
egoist 5.5m coastal cruiser
Ply, coastal cruiser plans, the site is a complete mess, here's a link to the plans.
yago 31 and 36
Steel cruising boats.
Kral 630
Plans for a sportboat, in russian.
Bluestone
a beautiful in-shore cruiser offering minimal camping facilities, lapstrake, gavin atkin design

Motor boats

Muskoka Sea Flea
Fast little hydroplans and stuff.
Herring Skiff
A 12 foot slightly v'd stitch and glue skiff.
Fishing boat designs ****
2 V-bottom boats of planked and plywood construction, by the FAO.
Duckskiff *****
Ply, row or motor skiff, designed with duckhunting in mind.
Brockway Skiff *****
Ply skiff, simple rugged design. Very good instructions! Also here.

Other boats

Surfboards
Ply, old plans, includes a sailing surfboard!
bicycle boat ***
Ply, Bicycle powered catamaran.
kick-katamaran **
Ply, Old plans. Kick powered small scow hulled catamaran. Can also sail.
paddle pusher ***
Ply, very small kids boat.
Pogo
A little paddlewheeler.
Cootie Craft
A little scow, ply and planks.
Jiffy Skiff
An ugly boxy boat.
Showboat

Old books with boat plans/instruction

Dutch Friese Schouw, Dutch Regenboog, Two plans from the friese scheepvaart museum. There's probably more if you search the collection. (links were broken).
HANDBOOK OF ARTISANAL BOATBUILDING
Produced by the FAO.
Canoe and Boatbuilding for amateurs
Simple Boatbuilding
Practical Boatbuilding for Amateurs
Amateur Work Magazine Vol3
Includes A sailing dory, cabin yacht, rowing skiff, rowboat,
The Boy Mechanic Vol. 1 700 Things for Boys to Do
Canoe, sailing canoe, cruising catamaran, paddle boat, punt, bicycle catamaran. Not detailed.
Boy Mechanic, volume 2. 1000 things for a boy to do.
Ice boat catamaran, paddle wheel boat, double ender skiff.

dories

Booth Bay dory
Ply on frame, small dory.
pod
row-sail dory ***
Also availible as pdf files at this site.
dorette
blackberry ***
also here on duckworks
blackberry 14 ***
a longer version of the blackberry
double paddle dory
Look here for the plans in many other file formats
south haven dory
also here on duckworks.
black skiff
traditional dory plans
Doris the duckworks dory
2SD
Stitch and Glue, 2 sheet dory design. Hannu's Boatyard.
3SD
Ply, 2 3 sheet dory designs (5.2 and 5.4m), Hannu's Boatyard.
Little and Big Sister Dories
Hannu's Boatyard