Powerboat Books

[Jon Stinton]

Hi, I'm not sure if i put this post in the right place origianlly, but here it is again. If anyone can ofer me help i would reall appreciate it.
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Hi, I'm new to the forum part of this web site... I'm a 3rd year student at Coventry University studying Consumer Product Design with a year to go. I'm intending on specialising in boat design as i have done several projects marine related already and am getting really stuck into my boat design.

My question is that I would like to get a 'bible' of powerboat design if you like. I have a couple of books on yacht design, but i would also like something about the in's and out's of powerboat design.

If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.

Many thanks,

Jon Stinton

[Eric Sponberg]

Jon,

There is no one "bible" on powerboat design. Some people here in the US have wanted to produce one through the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), but it has never come to pass. The reason is that no one person knows everything about powerboat design, and so the book would have to be written by committee. And it is just really hard to get a committee to buckle down and write a book, for which there would be very little monetary return because the market for such a book is so small.

One source that is good and current is Technical & Research Report R-42, "Seakeeping of Hard Chine Planing Hulls", published by SNAME, and authored by Daniel Savitsky and Joseph G. Koelbel, Jr., November 1992. Mr. Koelbel has also written some good articles for Professional Boatbuilder magazine on the engineering aspects of boat structures.

Also, Don Blount, a naval architect in private practice in Virginia, has written extensively for Professional Boatbuilder--he is one of the best writers on powerboat design and engineering. His articles have direct practical application to day-to-day boat design.

Someone is sure the mention Peter DuCane's book, "High Speed Small Craft", the latest edition of which dates to 1975. This book was at one time the one "bible" of small powercraft design. It might be a little dated now, but it has also been out of print for a long time. Copies are rare.