Stitch-and-glue: the perfect boatbuilding method?

Boats have been built for thousands of years, most of which using wood as main building material. From carved logs to strip-planking, many are the methods to build wooden boats. From the 20th century on, other materials such as steel, aluminum, GRP and advanced composites were used. Each method and combination of materials has its own advantages and shortcomings. But if we were to select the best construction method for the amateur who wants to build one’s own boat, Stitch-and-glue boatbuilding with plywood and epoxy are our choice as the perfect boatbuilding method. Why?

• Stitch-and-glue is easy to learn and demands modest resources: You don’t need molds, complex building cradles, expensive tooling and hard-to-find hardwoods to build excellent boats. No keel backbones, no frames and a workshop slightly bigger than the boat itself will be enough. If you can operate a jigsaw or an orbital sander you can build a boat. The learning curve is steep, even beginners with no carpentry background will be able to achieve impressive results in a short time. No other boatbuilding method achieves fastest results, with the exception of fiberglass boatbuilding from molds as long as you don’t count the time spent building the plug and the molds themselves.
• Stitch-and-glue is cost-effective: Stitch-and-glue is based on marine plywood and epoxy resin, both of which are readily available almost everywhere at reasonable cost. It demands little dimensional lumber. Tools are affordable and few, building plans are abundant and cost a small fraction of the total building investment and most designers will offer online support. We do! Best of all, stitch-and-glue boats last long with little maintenance. On the long run, it can be considered one of the cheapest boatbuilding methods.
• Stitch-and-glue one-off boatbuilding allows you to choose a better design: Because there are so many available boat designs to choose from, it´s possible to find a boat that matches your needs perfectly. Stitch-and-glue offer more rational use of interior space, since there are no frames, stringers and other structures that take room. More design options also mean that you get either more boat for its size, or less size for the same use, both of which are good.

At Madeira Mar Boatbuilding School, we have promoted and developed designs for stitch-and-glue boats that are easy to build, with fewer parts, yet strong and reliable. With ease of building in mind, our designs make boatbuilding affordable and accessible to those who don1t have a lot of free time or abundant resources, and yet dream about sailing a boat they have built. Classic sail plans, wood spars and polytarp sails allow you to build and rig the boat yourself. This not only saves you money but makes you self-reliant. What you’ve built, you can fix and rebuild.

Stitch-and-glue boatbuilding is less demanding in terms of precision. Epoxy is a structural adhesive which has great gap-filling qualities, so small cutting mistakes and a sloppy fit is perfectly acceptable. The carpentry needed is very basic and working with epoxy is simple once you learn the basics. Wood is a lightweight material, that is easy to handle and process. It’s also fun to work with. Because of this we have boats being built by people of all ages and building experience. From novices who never used a jigsaw, to expert boatbuilders, from eight-year-old kids to 70-year-old retirees. If you want to know more about available plans, visit the DESIGNS page.