Some math of interest, this had me banging my head against a bulkhead, and today in the “very interesting” department…
Here’s another Barros design that’s still worth checking out…
The current price for the plans of this exceptional compact VolksCruiser in US dollars is a jaw dropping $209.
It has a very livable interior plan, It’s easy/quick to build and has shoal draft.
What’s not to like?
For some reason or other, it reminds me of the Citroen 2CV in that it does everything you need it to do and doesn’t sweat the stuff you don’t.
All that said, while it’s a very buildable boat, the rig does not fill me with happiness. For a while I seriously considered building a Pop 25 and replacing the rig with a balanced lug or junk rig. Which, I expect, would be a sensible improvement and make for a better, more affordable cruiser.
On the other hand, a used Catalina or CAL 25 would cost a lot less and take you wherever you wanted to go finestkind.
So many boats, so many choices…
You could buy an old unsinkable Sadler 26 for less. There was a blog on a build of one of those, its double skinned with foam in between, so unsinkable like the sadler. It would double the consumption of epoxy just sealing all the plywood. I believe one was fitted with a 3Kw electric motor. Not sure on the handling in a big sea with that shape, but i would love to try one out.
It uses the batteries (lead) as ballast……depending on your charging needs, you dont get the benefit of lithium. Granted, golf cart batteries can be/used to be budget friendly.