Build Time Breakdown:
The estimate above of 6 to 10 thousand hours to build our Solitaire 1520 is to sail away shape. That is how long it takes to build the finished boat, not just the shell. From what we have researched, the shell portion takes about half the build time.
Now, those numbers are in 'man hours' as if one person were building the whole boat. We are a team of five people, so that breaks down like this... Some of our crew will be part time workers, but two of us are full time (The Captain and XO).
Now, after a year and four months (since the last time I updated this) We have worked about 6511 hours. The average hours per month is approximately 400. Therefore, with just eight months left on our original schedule, we would get there with about 9700 worked.
Looking at where we are at though, I don't think we will finish the boat in that time. We had a six month contingency planned, which would add about 2,400 more man hours. This MIGHT get us there, but only time will tell.
We had hoped to get the shell done in the first year, but will probably take two years now that I see where we are at. That will leave us only six months to get the rest of the work done instead of the years we planned. That means we will likely go over even our contingency six month period. But, the original estimates were for a boat that has never been built before by DIY builders who have never constructed a boat this large. So, it will be done when it's done :)