Finishing the sail kit is very straight forward and shouldn't take long.  I hesitate to offer an estimate (as will others, I'm sure) without knowing which rig and rudder you'll be using.  And to confirm that you are starting from scratch with the sail kit - that you didn't build in a centerboard trunk or mast partner knees (for lug rig) as part of the initial build.  As a guess I'd say samething like four 2-day weekends to get parts assembled, epoxy coated and and installed, then add time required for varnishing and setting up the standing and running rigging.  It is a little hard for me to guess, as I did a lot of this stuff in parallel with the hull build - used it to fill in the curing/drying down-time on the basic hull.

Your own experience with building that NE dory should serve you well in getting a grip on what to expect making the sailing kit into a functional part of your dory. You have all the needed skills now, you're not starting from scratch, so your motivation to keep up with progress is entirely up to you and the time you can devote to the work.

It took me most all of last winter's five months (where I live it can start early and last into April) to complete the ama addition for my Waterlust build, launched in 8/21. I worked from plans, had a couple of false starts, but in the end I was justifiably rewarded for my efforts with the resulting boost to stability it provides.

Mast, spars & the fitments to make them work with your completed hull ought not take nearly as long an interval. Make good use of your time and space, you'll be sailing soon!

It took me about 9 to 10 months to complete my NED for rowing (I did add the dagger board trunk and mast step when building).  This summer, I slowly worked on the saling rig (Lug rig).  I decided early on this summer, to spend more time on the water, than working on the sail rig and not to rush it to meet some artificial milestone.  I am pretty much done and plan on launching the sailing version next spring.  Varnishing the rudder, tiller, spars, mast thwart, and mast took much longer than I anticipated.  I could not appropriately hang them so I pretty much had to do 1 to 3 sides a day, then rotate it.  So this doubled to trippled the varnishing time.  All that I have left is to attatch the rudder hardware (which incluses drill-fill-drill), add leathers to the spars where they meet the mast, all of the rope work, and then wait for the wind :)      

   Thanks! I've been putting off the purchase and was just wondering how long I can safely do so. I suppose I did not do any of the sail kit steps in my initial build so I am starting from scratch. I think I would prefer the lug rig and plan to go that route. I suppose I should probably bite the bullet sooner rather than later haha

rjrowan quipped: "I suppose I should probably bite the bullet sooner rather than later...."

CLC has frequent sales, I'd watch for those to appear then see if your sailing kit's included, you might save enough to cover the shipping or a little more.

Too, depending on what the climate is like where you are and where you'll be using your NED, keep in mind that while you're modifying your hull you likely won't want to use it until the mods are completed.

You soloing your build? By that I mean have you looked in at the CLC Builders Club, see if there's any other NED owner/builders near enough to you who perhaps could help you get started before you purchase the kit? 

   I'm in the same boat as you(yuk yuk) just got rowing 2 weeks ago but I've got the daggerboard trunk and mast partner knees done

   Sorry for the slow response! Yes I have been looking for sail component discounts, but I think I did read on one of the CLC newsletters that the sail kits aren't usually marked down as they come fairly close to cost already. I think I saw it marked down 10% this week and will go for it if I can budget appropriately. I would love to go for it right now, but I probably should finish my Christmas shopping for others before I start on myself ahah. I have been soloing this build and didn't have much trouble, I am a trim carpenter by trade so most of the construction was no problem for me, though I did find epoxy to have a decent learning curve. I can't wait to dig in! Wish I had done the daggerboard trunk and mast step already.

   I built the NE Dory from plans but purchased the RSS sail. It is substantially bigger at 89 sq ft i think but comes with 2 sets of reef points. I also built a hollow mast and both boom and top yard are hollow. All from Sitka spruce using the birds-mouth design. The RSS sail can be purchased at duckworks. (Sorry, i know this is the clc site) But the RSS sail works well on the NE Dory. Good light air and good close to the wind. The first reef takes it down to about the size of the clc sail. I would also recommend a tilt up rudder modification.