Design/building literature

I plan to build watercraft sometime in the future and would like some suggestions on some literature to study before building my first sailboat. It is also a desire of mine to design my own plans for various types of boats and would like some other suggestions on technical books to aid in learning to design these boats. I already have a solid backgeound in physics but could use some touching up on fluid dynamics.

My mind is open to suggestions so please have at it!

Nick

 

As a totally newbie (me that is) I find the basic books like Jim Michalak's "Boatbuilding for Beginers and Beyond" and Gavin Atkins "Ultra Simple Boatbuilding" are a good place to start.

For a little more about the design process I am reading Ted Brewers "Understanding Boat Design", it's simple and straight forward, easy to read.

Also look at Jim Mitchalak's newsletters and essays, all available on-line.

One very popular book I thought was a total waste of time was "Fifty Wooden Boats" - it's just a bunch of line drawings of other peoples boats. After reading the above books I went and bought a copy - there are reasons why popular books are popular

Of course, a lot depends on what sort of boat you want to build, what size, what materials, etc. etc.

 

For an easy to understand foundation.
http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Boats-Insights-Esoterica-Nautically/dp/007024233X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Boat-Strength-Builders-Designers/dp/0070231591/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

 

The book store here has all the major titles, so a search for yacht design, boat design, etc. should yeild many hits.

Dave Geer's books "the Nature of Boats" and "The Elements of Boat Strength" will help with the concepts and engineering fundamentalist. Then there are many of the classics, Like "Elements of Boat Design", Chapelle's "Yacht Design and Planning" and dozens of others.

Build up a reasonable library and don't jump too quickly, you have a lot of information to absorb. Suck up the contents of a few of these books and then make a decision about how much of this you really want to understand, compared to purchasing a set of plans.

 

There is also a good deal to learn from this forum, you might start by reading all the posts from PAR. There is a book there just in different form.

 

All suggestions above are good. Add to this list, "The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction", available from:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/how-to-publications/

This book will take you through the planning and cost estimating stages for any type of wood-epoxy craft. Same principles can be applied to other composite craft, and in a stretch, metal craft.

Eric

 

I def have plenty of time, i won't have a place that I can actually start a project of this size for a while since I don't think it is a good idea to start a project like this in Florida due to the number of hurricanes that travel through this area. Not to mention the fact that I am military and by the time my next orders come through I may be moving. I already have a bachelor's degree but in accounting and finance, but started as chemical engineering and feel I would better serve the engineering community since I am more science oriented. Ultimately I would like to possibly find another major to use my GI Bill on in the future, but find myself driven to teach myself as much as possible. I appreciate all the suggestions so far and would love to continue to hear even more suggestions as the thread progresses!

Thanks again,
Nick

 

For a science seeking soul C A Marchaj has written a lot..