Maker Faire Bay Area 2023

The First Mod: bicycle-towed sailboat.

Home: California, United States

The First Mod is a bicycle-towed 17' sailboat capable of carrying 3-4 people on sails. It's made with relatively ultralight materials including a beautiful translucent G10 hull. The spirit of the project is to help myself and inspire others to get out into nature without needing cars and trucks. I use an electric folding bike to tow the boat to the water. The boat doesn't sit on a trailer -- the boat is the trailer. Wheels pop in to sockets on the hull. The boat's hull was built from plans, then modified to incorporate bike towing. The size and shape of the boat were chosen to be the largest possible sailboat that could still be towed to the water by bike, in order to safely sail in the chop of San Francisco Bay.