Puddle Duck Racer

Puddle Duck Racer or PD Racer is 8 foot (2.44 m) long, 4 foot (1.22 m) wide, 16 inch (40 cm) high. It is a one design hull shape with wide options in other areas. Billed as “the easiest sailboat in the world to build”, the scow hull is a simple box, usually built of plywood. PD Racers have a rating of 140.0 in the US.

Designed by David “Shorty” Routh, the PD Racer design was first published and released in 2003, and the first hull was built in January 2004. With a focus on a simple design that uses low cost materials, PD Racers are intended to be accessible to a wide variety of people. All the materials needed to build the boat can be found at a hardware store, and the dimensions allow for a tolerance of a quarter-inch, allowing for less experienced builders to assemble a boat that fits within the design rules. They can be cheap to build, with a simple plastic tarp for a sail, and reports place the cost to build the boat as ranging from $150 to $300 to construct. The design is suitable for use in school projects.

PD Racer hulls are numbered after photographic proof is given that that hull has been completed rather than assigned by the plan number a builder is given. To register a hull and receive a hull number, the basic hull (four sides, and two airboxes attached to a plywood bottom) must be assembled (called “going 3D” by the builders). In late 2013, there were over 850 PD Racers registered in North America