$18,000 is a fair price for the boats in this program. The lessons learned about craft, self sufficiency, discipline, sailing and cooperation are priceless.
Would these has-been sailors carping about costs like to step-up and INSURE these activities?
Ask yourself- What did that garbage-scow USS Ronald Reagan cost us?
About four and a half Billion $$$$$...
And what have we learned from it?
Nothing.
My brother and I built a 7' sailboat when we were teens. We saved up money earned cutting grass and shove
@Michael BMy brother and I built a 7' sailboat when we were teens in the early 1960s, financed by money earned cutting grass and shovelling snow. As I recall, we only spent about $200, mostly on a sheet of marine plywood and lots of brass screws and fittings. The rest was scrap lumber and other odds and ends, youthful ingenuity at work. We were used oak from scrap pallets for the framing. We has great fun sailing it around Baltimore Harbor and environs.
$18,000 to build an 8 foot pram ? As a recently retired boat builder I can not believe that figure in any way. Even in New York City.
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Costs go beyond materials. The program needs to provide staff and also maintain a shop for finishing the boats. I do not work for Brooklyn Boatworks but know them and they are a wonderful outfit.
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That looks very much like the sailboat I built in high school. It was so much fun to sail. I delighted to see a program to help kids build sailboats.
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I spent two decades working on the water harvesting various critters.
There is no better confidence-builder than building or repairing your own boat and then setting out on the water.
But you must also learn to be cautious -- a lake, a river, a bay, or an ocean are unforgiving of those who are not cautious.
With confidence and a bit of caution I hope they all sail safely for many years to come.
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I find it hard to believe that these little 7 foot boats cost $18,000 each to build. Is it possible that's a typo and should be $1,800? I just don't see where these would cost this much to build.
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@Inspector: I agree. In my experience, the sail for those types of handmade boats cost a whole lot more that the wood does. Admittedly marine grade plywood is pricey but I would guess that one of these boats can be made for around $500. I build a similar sailboat in the 60's for about $100.
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I want in on this! Where do I sign up? (Do you think anyone will notice I'm 72 years old?)
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I had an Opti sailor who just sized out of his boat this year (kids size out at around 115 pounds regardless of age unfortunately; we donated the boat to a local learn-to-sail program), and we have some leftover gear and lifejackets - if there is a way to contact the program we are happy to donate what we have.
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I love this! The Opti was designed for the Optimist Club for their service project to make sailing more accessible and affordable for youth. The goal was that anyone with a degree of competence could build a boat for kids to race. Frankly, sailing is still an overwhelmingly white wealthy sport in the US even in places that have a more laid back sailing culture and make efforts to diversity the sport like in Mpls. And like many sports sailing needs younger more diverse athletes if it i going to survive. I would love to see more programs like this and hope that the many sailors who read this article are prompted to help the sport.
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Great article and project. It gives a fine feeling of hope for the future.
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I am somewhat appalled at the cost of this program -- " it costs $18,000 to build each Opti through the program" -- one can purchased a fully outfitted Optimist racer for $3,685 plus $199 shipping in the United States.
That means four times as many kids could betsaught to sail in brand-new fibetrglass Optis for the cost of building one plywood Opti.
Its great to have kids build thiungs lkike this -- but it should be able to be done far cheaper than buying the commercially available product. Let them build something they'd be proud to take home and put in their homes for a couple hundred bucks -- and buy Optis to teach them to sail.
Just something wrong with the math and economics of this as presented here.
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@Kip Hansen I tend to agree. The expense seems overboard (pardon the pun). My kids went to a one week physics summer camp at age 11 and learned about buoyancy and built "life size" boats out of cardboard and plastic sheets and other materials and then race them across the swimming pool (one student in them, and other in the water kicking). They end up basically disintegrating by the end of the race but much is learned while enjoying the challenge. I know it is not the same, but the costs were a couple hundred dollars for the week. Also, (for what its worth), it would have been cool for the Boatworks program to let those kids paint their boats to add individualism to the project. The boats could also be used to teach kids to sail without the expense of building them from scratch.
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@Kip Hansen
The point of the program is to teach kids to build a boat, not just to sail. You're paying for materials, tools, instruction and supervision over the many months and of course the cost is going to be greater than purchasing a ready made boat off a shelf. I can buy ready made computers for a few hundred dollars; does that make courses aimed at teaching kids how to build their own computers (which likely cost much much more) not worthwhile?
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@Kip Hansen partial probably goes to the instructors salary....
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Nice program — but $18,000 to build an Opti? I built two larger boats with my grandchildren for less than a tenth of that. I’d love to see a breakdown of costs.
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What a great program!
When I was young there was nothing more fun than sailing small dinghies alone and just messing around. The sense of adventure. What fun!
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I learned about this program last year. I couldn't make a donation fast enough. What these kids are doing is totally cool, and they need our support.
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“There is nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” What a wonderful story, education at its best! Thanks Brooklyn Boatworks and NYT for a day-brightening report!
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this is a great program. I have seen the change that happens when a child is able to explore on a boat. but a boat that they built, even stronger.
more power to Brooklyn boat works.....
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