"This is my first try at building anything of this type, all I used was the tools listed ( it was also all I had). I bought everything from the ACE hardware around the corner from my house. I worked weekend and evenings and start to finish it took a month. I chose the mini cup since it would be a great boat to teach the kids with and I needed to convince myself I had the stamina to see a project through. I did it all completely by myself except for building the sail, my wife helped with that, it is an easy one man project. I do recommend you read the complete manual prior to starting, I did not, and it cost me a few extra hours of time and a few extra dollars, but it seemed the manly thing to do at the time. Over all it was great fun to build, it appears to be very rugged and should last a good long time."