The Oz Racer RV is an 8ft plywood sailing dinghy that handles and sails very well while being light and easy to build. It has a leeboard to keep the interior of the boat clear for family sailing.
There are two similar designs:
12ft Oz Goose Club or Family Sailing Dinghy – Plans $36Much Faster and More capacity Same simple building method and the boxy hull also has enormous stability. 125lbs Carries one to three adults and is a fast growing sailing club class boat in the Philippines with over 50 boats (2018). |  |
8ft OzRacer Mk2 – Racing version of the OzRacer RVOriginal centreboard version of the same boat optimised to one person and pushed towards performance 64lbs – Choice of triangular or lug sail. Plans include sailmaking instructions. |  |
All OzRacer RV news accumulates on this page – builds, mods, freebies
$30 for detailed plans for the OzRacerRV simple cheap sailboat available from my agents.
- 98 pages including timber lists in imperial and metric
- building instructions with full detail of all building methods
- Simpler building method using duct tape to temporarily assemble the hull.
- full method for making a decent sail out of polytarp and
- rigging directions.
- Sent direct to your email address
The OzRacer RV overcomes the minor shortcomings of the OzRacer Mk2 to make it even better!
- SIMPLER BUILD using innovative methods derived from our Quick Canoe design
- FEWER PARTS to cut out – about half the parts of the OzRacer Mk2
- PERFORMANCE with the foils, spar and sail designs that won the PDRacer worlds in 2009, 20010, 2o11
- LEEBOARD to create more space inside the boat instead of centreboard
- BETTER FOR KIDS OR ADULTS TO SAIL – a second mast position allows a smaller sail more in line with the strength and reach of a child.
Comparing the OzRacer Mk2 and OzRacer RV sailboat plans
Here are all the main hull components. The deck consists of three rectangular pieces
The OzRacer RV has the full length side tanks that we would have liked to have used for the Mk2. However at that time we were very sensitive to minimising the number of sheets of plywood. The Mk2 only uses three and the RV does add one sheet to bring the total up to four.
This makes the Mk3 a little heavier than the originals so performance will be a little less. We still recommend the OZ Mk2 for those oriented toward performance. But the RV isn’t a slouch. Rick Landreville’s prototype won the PDRacer worlds in 2010 when we had named it the Mk3. That’s three years running that OzRacers derived boats won the PDRacer “Worlds”.
The leeboard option has so many advantages, but it does lead to a slight imbalance in the helm characteristics. It means that there is a bit of extra weather helm on one tack (leeboard to windward) and a shade of lee helm on the other tack (leeboard to leeward). This leads to a little extra drag from the rudder.
But it is much more worth it to keep the middle of the boat more clear.
Leeboard increases interior space in the sailboat cockpit.
OzRacer Mk2 left. OzRacer RV right – clean interior
The long side tanks make a couple of options possible. They mean that it is very easy to move the centreboard case off to the side to be inside the buoyancy tank. This opens up the middle of the boat considerably.
When racing this probably is a moot point because the sailor will be sitting behind the centrecase area anyhow and in most conditions sitting on the side deck. However for more laid back sailing or when taking another person out it frees a lot of area up and allows the “crew” to sit much more comfortably and also be close enough to the controls to take part in the running of the boat.
Quick boat hull construction using duct tape to hold panels in place
The biggest change is to use the methods we have developed for the Quick Canoe Series. It is similar to stitch and glue but instead of laborious stitching the hull is initially held together with Duct Tape. This has reduced the amount of timber framing used which added a lot of labour with the MK2. The RV goes together with epoxy fillets. Some have used the thick PL Premium glue with success to make fillets and so far that alternative seems durable.
We have found that epoxy filleting is cheaper than timber in Australia and most of Europe where timber prices are much higher than the Americas and certainly saves time and solid timber costs anywhere in the world.
The other big advantage is the boat is held together on the outside only with no intrusion into the inside. This means there is not stitching to get in the way of fillets … a completely clean interior shown here on one of our very simple Quick Canoes where we pioneered the method.
Two Mast Positions for better ergonomics sailed by child or adult
The mast position has been retained from the Oz Mk2. But a wider foredeck and a second mast step further back allows for a junior 4.7 rig (50 square feet) to be put into the boat. The sails are so cheap made of polytarp there is no reason to not have two sails. One for kids, the 4.7 and one for adults (or a bunch of kids sailing together) the original 82 square feet.
The two mast postions are shown in the photo below.
It sounds like a lot of sail, but the rectangular form of the boat gives high stability that is completely surprising to experienced sailors. I didn’t know the square shape would make soooo much difference.
The open front compartment, which is not used for buoyancy, doesn’t need to be sealed from water intrusion as the buoyancy tanks are purely down the sides of the boat. So the mast or masts can be stepped in either location.
OzRacer RV sail boat … the OzRacer for the rest of us
Rick’s building photos on flickr
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