Self-taught Brazilian Mechanic Builds 10-Ton Aluminum Sailboat in Backyard, Now Navigates the Brazilian Coast at 50

In Santa Cruz do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul, mechanic Vanderlei Becker, at 50 years old and without knowing how to sail, spent 5 years building in his backyard the Lelei, a sailboat built alone, made of aluminum and 10 tons, on which he spent R$ 1 million just on materials and which today sails along the coast of Brazil.

Some people dream of having a boat and buy a ready-made one. Vanderlei Becker decided to make his from scratch, alone, in his backyard. A mechanic by profession, the gaucho from Santa Cruz do Sul made quite a decision at 50 years old: having never sailed and with almost no experience on the water, he abandoned the idea of buying a ready-made sailboat and went on to build his own. The result was the Lelei, a 10-ton aluminum sailboat built with his own hands over five years.

The feat was reported by the magazine Náutica, a reference in the world of boats. Vanderlei Becker spent more than R$ 1 million just on materials to make the sailboat built alone, not counting the labor, which was entirely his. And he refused any shortcuts: he wanted to build a real boat, not assemble a Lego, as he himself summarized.

At 50 years old, without knowing how to sail, he decided to build a boat

Most people learn to sail before thinking of having a boat, but Vanderlei Becker did the opposite: he decided to build the sailboat first, even without knowing how to navigate.

At 50 years old, with little or almost no experience on the water, he chose to face the sea in the most difficult and ambitious way possible.

The motivation was an old dream.

Vanderlei Becker wanted to experience the sea, and saw in the construction of his own sailboat the way to achieve this in his own way, without depending on anyone.

And there was a mechanic’s logic there.

For him, building from scratch seemed even easier than buying a used sailboat and having to fix problems he didn’t know about, so he preferred to do everything his own way.

It was boldness with method.

Instead of being intimidated by the size of the challenge, the man from Santa Cruz do Sul treated the boat as the biggest engineering project of his life.

Five years and a shipyard set up in the backyard

The construction site was not just any shipyard.

Vanderlei Becker set up the structure in the backyard of his own house, in the Cerro Alegre Alto neighborhood, in Santa Cruz do Sul, transforming an old carpentry into a naval construction shed.

There he installed a crane, welding equipment, and all the necessary tools to build an aluminum hull on his own.

And it was all, literally, by his hand.

From the hull to the floor, from the internal carpentry to the onboard refrigerator, almost every piece of the sailboat built alone came from the work of just one person.

Time measures the effort.

It took five years of dedication until the aluminum sailboat was ready, a timeframe that many people would take with an entire team, and which he faced in a solitary rhythm.

Each stage became a learning experience.

Without a team and without a boss’s rush, Vanderlei Becker discovered in practice how to build a real boat, piece by piece, in the backyard.

“I wanted to build a boat, not assemble a Lego”

The phrase became the project’s trademark.

Vanderlei Becker refused to buy kits of pieces already cut by CNC machine, which would make the work faster, but would take away the challenge’s fun.

“I wanted to build a boat, not assemble a Lego,” he summarized, explaining why he insisted on designing and cutting each piece himself.

The idea was to have a 100% his own boat.

For Vanderlei Becker, assembling ready-made pieces would be almost cheating, and he wanted the sailboat built alone to be, indeed, entirely the result of his hands.

But there was a technical basis.

He chose and bought the Kiribati 36 project, a 36-foot oceanic sailboat plan, and from it, he cut and assembled each part, instead of receiving everything pre-fabricated.

It was artisan rigor.

Refusing the Lego shortcut turned the Lelei into an authorial work, with the signature of someone who insisted on learning everything along the way.

Ten tons of aluminum and R$ 1 million in material

The boat’s numbers are impressive on their own.

The Lelei is a 36-foot oceanic sailboat made of aluminum, weighing no less than 10 tons when ready.

Just in materials, Vanderlei Becker spent over R$ 1 million, a value that does not include the labor, which was all his own.

Aluminum was a choice for durability.

It is a valued material in oceanic sailboat hulls precisely because it withstands the rigors of the open sea, and handling it requires welding and technique that the mechanic gradually mastered.

The final bill is daunting.

Raising an aluminum structure of this size alone, adding tools, project, and material, shows that the dream demanded a high price, in time and money.

But the value was in the process.

For Vanderlei Becker, every real and every hour invested in the aluminum sailboat were part of the achievement, not just a cost.

The day a crane lifted the Lelei

Once completed, the Lelei needed to leave the backyard, and this required a crane to lift the 10-ton sailboat nearly 20 meters high.

The structure had to be hoisted over trees and power lines until it finally reached the water.

It was a cinematic operation.

Seeing an entire aluminum sailboat flying over the trees of Santa Cruz do Sul, suspended by cables, is the kind of scene that sums up the magnitude of the endeavor.

And then came the christening.

The Lelei was tested in the waters of the Jacuí River, in Rio Grande do Sul, at the moment when five years of work finally found its element.

The emotion was justified.

After so much time dry in the backyard, the boat finally floated, proving that the sailboat built alone was not just a workbench dream.

From the Gaucho backyard to the coast of Brazil

Today the Lelei does exactly what it was made for.

Vanderlei Becker fulfilled the plan and began to cross the coast of Brazil aboard the sailboat he built alone, experiencing the sea he once didn’t even know how to navigate.

The boat that was born dry in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul became a floating house on the Brazilian coast.

And the story didn’t stop with him.

Vanderlei Becker documented every stage of the work on the YouTube channel Veleiro Lelei, which today helps and inspires other people who dream of building their own boat.

The internet became part of the project.

Accompanied by a loyal audience, the man from Santa Cruz do Sul showed in practice how to build a sailboat alone, and continues to answer questions from builders across the country.

From personal dream to reference.

What started as an intimate challenge in a backyard became a kind of living manual for those who want to do the same.

What the case of the Lelei sailboat shows

The biggest lesson is about the good stubbornness of those who achieve.

Vanderlei Becker proved that you can learn by doing, and that neither age nor lack of experience need to kill a big dream like living at sea.

At 50 years old, without knowing how to sail, he turned a backyard into a shipyard and five years of work into a real sailboat.

Of course, it’s important to keep your feet on the ground.

Building a sailboat alone cost more than R$ 1 million, five years of life, and a level of technical skill that few have, so it’s not a project that anyone can copy overnight.

Even so, the example inspires.

Seeing a mechanic from the interior of Rio Grande do Sul raise a 10-ton aluminum sailboat with his own hands is the kind of story that renews the desire to bring projects to life.

From the backyard of Santa Cruz do Sul to the open sea, the Lelei sails as proof of patience.

And it reminds us that sometimes the hardest way to achieve a dream is also the most beautiful.

And you, would you have the courage, at 50 years old and without knowing how to sail, to spend five years building your own sailboat in the backyard? Tell us in the comments what you think of Vanderlei’s choice to build everything alone, instead of assembling a Lego.