How To Choose a Sailboat Kit: Read the Manual First
Marketers often have a flexible relationship with reality. They color it and stretch it and shade it and hide the ugly side of it so that people will buy their products. That is a big problem when you are trying to choose a sailboat kit, because you REALLY need to know what you are getting into -- that is, the true nature of the work you will have to do to build your boat from the kit.
My hot tip for avoiding a bad kit purchase: read the manual FIRST, BEFORE YOU BUY the boat kit.
Reviewing the manual for a boat project should take maybe 1% of the time that the project work will take. For 1% pre-effort, you will find out all kinds of vital things about the kit you are considering, such as:
What is included, vs what else do I have to buy?
Is the boat well-designed and well-built, including in places hidden on the inside?
Do I have to cut or carve some parts buy hand, or are they all ready-to-assemble?
What tools will I need?
What skills am I expected to have?
Is the company thoughtful and really invested in my success?
Notice that final point. A great assembly manual is a massive investment of time, energy, and money; that's what makes the manual a great indicator of the soul of the company you are choosing. If a company will not share their kit's assembly manual with you before you buy, move on. There's a good chance some unhappy surprises are waiting for you inside that kit.
So, please please please....READ THE MANUAL FIRST.
You can download a full chapter from the Puur 17 Mk3 Assembly Manual here. If after that, you'd like to review the entire manual, click the button below to send me a request, and I'll send you the entire manual in pdf.