New boat design

So I have built a few boats in the past, all kayaks, using strips of cedar and a bit of mahogany, they turned out nice. Well I figured that I would take my boat building to the next step and build a 14' fishing boat, similar to my 14’ metal boat I have now. It’s got a 25 HP Yamaha outboard on the thing. What I want to do is design a boat using the strip method that I have grown a custom to, and uses my Yamaha motor on one I built. The problem is I used a plan I purchased off the internet. This time I want to design my own boat from plans I create. I know how to use AutoCAD 2010. I have been using it since before college for both 3D rendering, and 2D spec drawings. I can draw the boat plans with out an issue. The part I’m stuck at is the design process. I want to take the science of boat engineering and structure into account when designing this boat. I also want it to look awesome. Does anyone have some links of sites or something that explain the basics boat design. I would love to make the boat not only work on paper, but also function like a professional boat. I also welcome pointers. I'll post my progress as I continue.

 

Not to disappoint you, but a critical question should be allowed.

Do you expect to be able to design a highway bridge over a river once you have gained the ability to draw it?

Ahhh, here we are.

Regards
Richard

 

Well a boat is VERY different from a bridge.
I don’t believe that your statement is a better question, and I believe that you missed the part that states I have built a few boats before. I do know the technique and looking to expand my abilities to a bigger boat. Not learn from scratch. So a better response would have been,

"It's very different to build bigger boats than strip kayaks, and drawing is different then building, but you could start learning a bit about basic boat design from this site (insert link here)."

And I realize that drawing a boat is a completely different ball game then building one. That’s why I stated that I have built before. I’m not a complete newbie. I’m just looking for pointers for someone who wants to design their own plan, not a set of blue prints purchased off line. I’m not looking for someone to hold my hand or for a step by step guide or boat building for dummies, just POINTERS for someone who is building their own plans.

Understand?

 

sathan asking for help? anyways let me know what problem u r facing.....

 

Tell us how big you want the boat to be, How many passengers do you anticipate, how fast do you want to go, what sea state and weather conditions will you operate in? Will it be trailered or will it live on a mooring? You want it to look"awesome". There is a semantic problem with words like that one. Explain..are you talking about sexy awesome, salty seagoing awesome, Beautiful craftmanship awesome, etc.....?

 

I understand...................

The fact that I build boats (commercially) is not related with my (non existent) ability to design them. I did not study Naval Architect. Though I´m well capable to start the design spiral in a very sensible manner, and as capable to finetune professional results, I am unable to design a boat from scratch. My experience tells me that the average amateur (even the skilled ones) is far less able to overcome such task successfully!

But give it a try, it is your time and money..........



Regards
Richard

 

Saithin; You posted and then did not reply lately. Do not go away mad. We are here to help if we can. Some of us may seem kind of crotchety but we are mostly good guys who sometimes offend without the intent to do so. What the hell we are not all sufficiently articulate to write well. (me particularly).

 

Oh I'm not mad, the other day my truck took and ****, so I have been working around the clock getting it running. I'll post later tonight about what I'm thinking as far as a boat design. Thanks for the replys though.

 

Good response mess.

Saithin, MOST folks here are helpful. Just look past some of the louder ones.

What our friend Richard is trying to say in his stern, teutonic way is: Do just a bit of digging to understand some of the basics of design. There are a lot of websites that do this, but really the best resources still are actual, physical books. Two of the best 'boat design for dummies' (that's you and me) books are Dave Gherr's book 'Nature of Boats' and Ted Brewer's book 'Understanding Boat Design'. Pay close attention to the earlier chapters that discusses stuff like sharpies, and dories. You'll be surprised at how 'awesome' you can make one of those simple designs look.

Ted has a little intro to design here - "Yacht Design - A Primer"