OZ Mk2 PDRacer

After reading Annie Hill's "Cruising on a Small Income" she mentions that the tender they used on Badger was a Bolger Brick. I went looking for info on this design and came across a class of dinghy called a PDRacer conceived by David Routh.

"The PDRacer is a one design racing sailboat that is basically a plywood box with a curved bottom, and is the easiest boat in the world to build. Free plans, free club, all boats must have have the lower 10" of their hulls be alike, but the rest is up to the builder. You can put any type of sail rig or underwater fins that you wish. Also the interior and deck above 10" is completely up to you."

Perfect! I needed a tender for the Bruce Roberts 24 I'm building with Dad. After a bit more reading I came upon  Michael Storer's refinement of the PDR design. Doubly Perfect! He'd managed to make it look pretty and sail fast. For the small sum of $20 you receive 3 very detailed PDF files of over 100 pages of plans and step by step illustrated building guides.

Anyway things got in the way for a couple of years and the plans sat on the computer unused but I now find myself living near the coast and longing for a boat. I recently had some time off work and finally got around to looking at the plans again. They were even better than I remembered and I've got even more enthusiasm than before. I emailed Michael (who must be the most accessible designer ever) and he got back to me with updated plans and some answers to some questions I had.

Which sail rig do you recommend for ocean sailing in 20 knot winds (typical coastal Perth)?

The lug reefs so is a good choice for a cruiser.  If you are a crazy dinghy racer the sprit will stand up find and feel somewhat similar to a Laser in dynamic terms ... but with somewhat less speed!  The PDR does go upwind against rough stuff quite well.

I've bought 3 sheets of 6mm 5ply marine ply but I now notice the plans call for 2 sheets of 4mm. Is my boat going to be significantly heavier? Does most of the weight from the hull come from the ply?

It won't matter too much.  Maybe an extra 7 or 8 lbs.  Just be careful with the rest of the build to choose materials and methods that keep the weight down to a normal level and it will be fine.  Generally boats don't end up badly heavy unless lots of different things have been done to increase the weight.

Best wishes...

MIK

Awsome... I'm building another boat!