Reddit reviews The Dory Book

Ian Oughtred book is excellent: https://www.amazon.com/Clinker-Plywood-Boatbuilding-Manual-Oughtred/dp/0937822612

John Gardner book is also great: https://www.amazon.com/Dory-Book-John-Gardner/dp/0913372447/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492717229&sr=1-2&keywords=john+gardner+boat

Kit boats are excellent intros, Chesapeake Light Craft is a good provider.

Boatbuilding classes are great too, Piediver suggested a good one

>maybe use sail track and sliders

If you do this, the guy who built the boat might cry. It sounds like a very traditionally built boat. A sail track certainly isn't traditional.

If you look closely at the picture you linked, there is a thumb cleat right where you described. The thumb cleat is used to secure block for the jib halyard. The jib is flown without a stay.

The mainsail should be laced to both the mast and the boom, as shown in the picture. To strike the sail, you fold the boom up to the mast.

This is all described in extensive detail in John Gardner's Dory Book. I would bet a large sum of money that the builder used that book as his reference.

http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=D12

http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/wooden-sailboat-kits/skerry-rowing-sailing-dinghy-kit.html

For price reasons, you should probably look at a "wood" boat that's covered in fiberglass and epoxy.

For an actual wooden boat, it's also doable, but will probably cost you more due to the lumber: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dory-Book-John-Gardner/dp/0913372447