Introduction - Naval Architecture Student

[sonofasailor12]

Hey all,

I've been lurking here for about a year, getting little snippets of knowledge for some of my classwork, but I finally decided to register, and thought I'd do a little introduction like the description of this forum says.

I'm a naval architecture student at the Naval Academy, and I'm on the offshore sailing team. I love sailing and my life basically revolves around it and my naval architecture classes.

I'd like to do something in yacht design after my time in the Navy.

For starters, here is one of my projects I did for class.

It is in the early phases, and the keel, bulb, and rudder have had 0 calculations go into them. They are just there for aesthetics and a general feel of the design.

It is supposed to be an ultra-light, no frills offshore racing boat, with a high power sailplan and high aspect appendages.

The hull is done mostly just by feel or "eye".

Thoughts?

And I hope to be still drawing valuable insight and information from this community for years to come!

Thanks for your time.

[jehardiman]

Originally Posted by sonofasailor12

I'm a naval architecture student at the Naval Academy, and I'm on the offshore sailing team. I love sailing and my life basically revolves around it and my naval architecture classes.

I'd like to do something in yacht design after my time in the Navy.

For starters, here is one of my projects I did for class.

It is in the early phases, and the keel, bulb, and rudder have had 0 calculations go into them. They are just there for aesthetics and a general feel of the design.

It is supposed to be an ultra-light, no frills offshore racing boat, with a high power sailplan and high aspect appendages.

The hull is done mostly just by feel or "eye".

Thoughts?

And I hope to be still drawing valuable insight and information from this community for years to come!

Thanks for your time.

Should have gone to Webb if you wanted to be NA rather than a khakiclad-ringknocker. But what's done, is done, and you stood up and raised your right hand. Don't washout and make us proud.

Anyway, if you want to do yacht design after your commision you need to set yourself up with a plan now. How long do you plan to stay in; 4 years? 12? 20? How are your grades? Your first billet will most likely be an operational JO (SUPSALV would be nice). If you resign after your initial comitment, you may not have fully developed your skill set and basicly be just like any other college grad that wants a job in yacht design with maybe a little more management training but less social networking in the civilian side. If you stay in and have good Academy grades and high evals, but not too high (you don't want to become a Nuc), try to get into the MIT A13 program and then into a fun NAVSEA PMO billet (PMS 399 and SPECWAR are good). This will open a lot of doors, give you a good skillset, but will add years to the timeline.

Also remember the old truth...How do you make a small fortune as a yacht designer?...Start with a large one.

As a comment on the design, never set pen to paper until the first round of calculations are done. You should develop a personal set of spreadsheets and data touchstones that allow you to quickly block out a design within reasonable parameters. This will save tons of rework downstream.

Good luck Midshipman.

[sonofasailor12]

Thanks for the response. I actually went to the Naval Academy to be an Officer first, not just for the Naval Architecture degree, but since I have discovered that I really enjoy it. I would possibly like to combine the two as an EDO or diving and salvage officer.

As far as setting myself up now, I have a short internship at Farr this summer to help get some experience in the industry.

[jehardiman]

Originally Posted by sonofasailor12

As far as setting myself up now, I have a short internship at Farr this summer to help get some experience in the industry.

Social networking IMHO is one of the more important things about where you end up. I think almost all NA's start out wanting to work in yacht design, and dabble in it (like myself) even when they find other things that put food on the table. In my years as a Naval Architect working for the Navy, I have worked with many yacht designers (self employed and otherwise) and boat builders "between offices". Some have returned to the private sector in yacht design, others went to other civilian NA jobs, some complete thier government career. Of the ones that went back to yacht design, they were heavily involved in the social networking of the field, which is actually fairly small.