Designing sailboat on a PC

[terhohalme]

Boat design in EU(rope)

For those who are willing to sell their designs in Europe, read pp. 93-99 in RSG Guidelines 2007 here:

http://rsg.balport.com/bal_ims_contr...%3D%3D=&page=1

It bretty well covers the term "boat design". There is no freeship, maxsurf, rhinomarine, prolines, or what ever sophisticated software, just the documents you need to do. Well, some other study than create a smooth clean colorful surface is needed....

Still, the boat can be a good one or just floating by rules.

[PAR]

Gilbert, I learned the skills necessary before software was available. Software just replaced a few of my drawing table items and simplified calculations. This wasn't a new thing, as I had ruling pens replaced by rapidographs, slide rules superceded by calculators and other tools upgraded previously.

My only point about these low buck packages is they don't do much and lead the novice down a road, which may suggest they've got a great design, when in fact they have little more then a picture.

The key to design, as I'm sure you know is study of the concepts, principles, engineering dynamics and past successes (or failures) of others, then incorporating this knowledge into your work, possibly with some computer driven tools if desired.

"your pencil would tell you where to put bulkheads and structural elements," maybe your pencil is much more educated then mine, but I needed engineering degrees to understand where to put the pencil, Gilbert.

The whole point is the low buck software packages, lull amateurs into thinking they can design a yacht, which these packages are woefully lacking after the surface modeling and volumetric calculations are completed.

I don't understand why you are having difficulty with this rationale Gilbert. No one has attempted to define a boat design, which frankly is such a broad term, that it will defy the best English professor.

[Gilbert]

PAR, the thing I have difficulty with is someone taking it upon himself to announce "This is a design" and "What you have there is not a design".
That is why I asked for a definition; so the rest of us could become so enlightened that we too could make the same determination.
My comment about the pencil telling you where to put the bulkhead, etc. was just a little sarcasm intended to say that the pencil is just a tool like software is.

Is there no danger that a high buck software package could lull an amatuer into thinking he could design a yacht?

Amatuers can design yachts; and do.

I heard a well known yacht designer say that his first design was his design number 63 (or thereabouts) because he just couldn't bring himself to tell his first customer that it was his first.
My first design is design number one.