boat design, where to begin?

[restornator]

i've come to the decision of building my own boat, but can't find any plans suitable for what i'd like to make. i already have the design in my head, but how do i get it on paper/out of my head?

[timgoz]

Rest..

If you do not have the ability to design it yourself, which your post makes apparent, you will have to find a designer. There are a number of good ones on this forum.

What type of boat & of what material are you thinking of?

Before I would contract for a new design I would diligently search out a stock design. There are so many good tried and true ones out there that you are sure to find one that is very close to your needs, unless your idea is really "off the wall".

A new design can easily cost upwards of 10% of the finished boat's cost. That is a substantial amount of $$$. Stock plans are usually very reasonably priced.

Give more details of what you are after & myself or others can steer you to a good designer for either new or an existing design that will meet your needs.

Welcome to the forum & take care.

Tim

[Loveofsea]

I was in the same dilemma back in 91 when i decided to build my skiff. I have a very small garage and i needed a rugged seawothy skiff that would allow me to get offshore for days at a time. i found no suitable commercially available boats--anywhere.

the first thing i did was to draw a sketch of my ideal boat~

then i made a 3D model from cardboard and scotch tape (fun)

then you mull it around for a while, make some changes...

Now you know exactly what shape to build. In my case it was a 19ft flatbottom dory style skiff with a tiller engine. I have used the skiff year around ever since--been thru 5 new engines and she is as sound as the day i launched her.

never did use any plans....

[Loveofsea]

Conventional boatbuilders are too steeped in tradition (IMO). When i designed the Good Skiff, i used principles drawn from aircraft design. I have spent over 30 years working in aerospace so i have been fortunate enough to have witnessed the most advanced engineering technique and application available.

In a nutshell; i designed the skiff using as few structural components as possible---every component being as large as it could possibly be. Structures generally fail at the seams so when every part is as large as it can be, you eliminate much of the seam area...

For an example, traditional boat builders use many thwarts fore and aft. i chose to use 3 major bulkheads instead of a number of small thwarts. I tied those BHDs into the bottom and sides. I staggered the sides and bottom sheets for maximum bond and strength.

I used marine plywood and therefore the structure is based on 'plane' geometry.

I knew i was going to use portable tanks that nested below the deck. i chose 2 twelve gallon, low profile tanks with a wedge-shaped 6 gallon inbetween. The width of those three tanks determined the width at the widest part of the skiff (2/3 fwd of the hull).

One dimension determines the other..

[water addict]

Originally Posted by restornator

i've come to the decision of building my own boat, but can't find any plans suitable for what i'd like to make. i already have the design in my head, but how do i get it on paper/out of my head?

You have become infected with the disease. Sadly, there is no cure for the ailment of boat infection.

If you need help, I can only send you down the path to further destruction. If you work hard, you can try golf, it might side-track you enough to forget your boating desires.

kiddng aside, if you want some design advice, let me know.

[Barbaros]

Facing to a similar problem while using Rhino.
The question is not only "where to start" but also "how to continue".
Now, I am using Rhino since few years to produce vessel plans.
Most of them are uncomplete for a simple reason:
I am still looking after a kind of "Guidelines" to "how to create a full set of plans" which seems to doesn't exist.
The idea would be to write down some sort of "white paper" and get the help of this valuable people.

[Trevlyns]

Originally Posted by restornator

i've come to the decision of building my own boat, but can't find any plans suitable for what i'd like to make. i already have the design in my head, but how do i get it on paper/out of my head?

I've just recommended this site elsewhere on the forum. Maybe it will help with the basics

[lazeyjack]

for what its worth, when you are building a boat, the first thing you take off plan is sheer and stem fairboby in profile, and thats exactly how a boat gets designed,, not withsatnding the things that are obvious eh, like size and type
So from great things sketches are done on the back of a envelope!!'
Some countrys, still make this part, the backbone(keel) and stem and stern post, they then put in the midship station, and then link the long battems around the boat, and the other sections are then put in, they go by tradition, feel and what looks right
There is one thing, a pretty boat is as easy to build as an ugly one!!
Although the one I'm working on now, is not so pretty as functional
You can toss ideas around in your head , its fun, it may take years before you start, but believe me you will, one day, start
Thing to rememer, is that there are no shortcuts, there are right and different methods, but no shortcuts, Good for you

[Loveofsea]

I think plans for a small boat are way overblown. i designed and built a 19 foot wooden skiff back in '91, i didn't use any plans and i got exactly the boat i wanted..

I have since logged 60,000 nm of open sea travel on that hull and it is as sound as the day i launched her. Virtually every trip i have taken in my skiff has been from 60 to 100nm offshore.

[lazeyjack]

so this skiff you have taken so far offshore, is it decked in? because in any wind over 15knots you will be shippinga lot of water?, , what is the freeboard at midship and Bow Please, any photos
60000, that 3 times around the world

[USCGRET/E8]

Originally Posted by restornator

i've come to the decision of building my own boat, but can't find any plans suitable for what i'd like to make. i already have the design in my head, but how do i get it on paper/out of my head?

Have you checked out Glenn-L, they pretty much have about whatever you could want, or darn close. Let us know what you have found out so far..(you seem to have dissapeared)

[Loveofsea]

Hello Lazeyjack. The skiff is open and about 32" freeboard at midship. I use a tiller on the outboard so there is no console for protection from the wind and seas. I have gotten very good at the weather here, so i am able to skirt the wind pretty succcessfully. I do underwater photography as a hobby and i usually go for 2 nights per trip. I have spent over 700 nights anchored at the most desolate places off our coast. Once in a while it is tough to get a good forecast 3 days out for the run home, but that is where the tiller comes in. The tiller offers the ultimate control over a small vessel. I can use instant lock to lock steering should i need to and i can articulate the throttle to control the pitch of the bow in rough seas. That degree of control in seas would not be possible with a conventional steering wheel and throttle lever.

I live just a few miles from Glen-L and i looked at all they had to offer in the way of boat design, but they had nothing that were suitable for my needs. When i built the skiff, i bought all of my supplies from them. i even brought the skiff by for the senior Glen and his son to look at. They didn'y really get it....

I thought the earth was 25,000 miles around. I have logged 90,000nm in two skiffs since '84. I consider that to be equivelant to about 3 and a half times around the world...

Here is a link to a web page that did a story about the good skiff:

http://www.oceanskiffjournal.com/

"There is nothing like the feeling of utter security on a tumultuous sea"

[Trevlyns]

Absolutely bloody amazing! Well done Brad!

[PsiPhi]

Restornater
The last edition of Wooden Boat, not the current one, the one before, had a nice little artical on how to start drawing up a design. The stuff Lazyjack was talking about eariler on.
I know nothing about the subject and found it very informative.
It might show you how to start at least.

If you don't have a copy, try your local library, if they don'e have it I'll dig out my copy and see who wrote it, it may be available elsewhere to.

[restornator]

i want to build a catamaran bass boat, much like the $70,000 Fastcats, but with a lower profile. i've looked at the tunnel hulls and cats at glen-l, but they don't offer the desired length tunnel hull for which i could modify the deck. i'm gonna make some field-testable model hulls with a .16 kyosho model engine. for those that have, what's the best formable material to make these models, say in the 3ft total length range?