Plans for 30' v-hull with cabin

[bamaboi57]

hello all im joey i want to build a 30 ft v hull boat with a cabin i have a few questions 1 is i have a plan drawn up but im no pro so where would i go to get good plans 2 if i use the 5000 series aluminum does the composition matter? 3 i tried autocad and it blew my mind it almost made me throw my laptop across the room are there any other programs to use for making boat blue prints

[BPL]

Originally Posted by bamaboi57

3 i tried autocad and it blew my mind it almost made me throw my laptop across the room are there any other programs to use for making boat blue prints

Try freeship or delftship. However, the software is similar to asking what type of paper you should draw the boat on, mylar, vellum, or bond? Software won't produce a good design unless you know what to draw.

First, why do you want to build instead of buying an existing or used boat?

Second, define your needs. Speed, range, seakeeping, accommodations.

Third, are there any existing plans that are close to what you want?

[lumberjack_jeff]

To get started, I recommend
Understanding Boat Design
Principles of Yacht design.

...And the programs
Carene
Hulls
Freeship/Delftship

[bamaboi57]

thanks for the info guys and the reasons i want to build instead of buy is this is a hobby i wanted to look into doin im not looking for alot of speed bc this will be in the river most of the time and a bathroom would be nice lol

[PAR]

Bamaboi, software doesn't design anything at all. It will produce pretty pictures, but a good camera does a better job, a lot faster.

The only thing that software does, is help an engineer lay down lines. To design a 30', high speed vessel, you need to know about engineering, hydrodynamics and materials. There's no short cut to this, no magic goo in a box, just a few years of intense study or several of less then intense study.

Some software packages will make it reasonably easy to get a set of boat shaped lines, but it's the education that tells you where they need to be, how thick stuff supposed to go and how fast you might get to run.

So, you have a few options: give it a shot and hope you're close enough to shore to swim back come launch day - take a course or two - or attempt to educate yourself (read, a lot longer and much more difficult, without an apprenticeship). Pick one. Of course, you could always just buy a set of plans, which would be the wise and prudent thing, particularly if you want to get started some time this year.

[BPL]

Building from a set of quality plans is still going to cost you much more than buying a used boat. You need to define what qualities you want that you can't get cheaper already built.
Somewhere else someone said "do you want to learn to design a boat, or do you want a boat." Same for building a boat, "do you want to build a boat, or do you want a boat." A 30' boat is big for "a hobby". Start small.

[PAR]

Of all the 25' and over boat building projects I've seen started in the last half a century, I'd say maybe a handful actually launched. A build of this size is a huge undertaking, not to be underestimated (it always is though). Of the ones that launched, every single one was completed by a well seasoned builder, who had several previous, smaller builds under their belt first. One in particular was 45' ketch, built by a mast shipwright. It was this boat that inspired me to get into it many decades ago. It took him 7 and half years of daily work, but what a beauty. His second child was conceived and born on the boat, on the east coast of south America, while they prepared for their first Pacific crossing. He died a few years back, but I talked to his widow not long ago. She still sails the boat, now renamed after him, after spending most of it's life named after her.

[Mr Efficiency]

Originally Posted by PAR

Of all the 25' and over boat building projects I've seen started in the last half a century, I'd say maybe a handful actually launched. A build of this size is a huge undertaking, not to be underestimated (it always is though). Of the ones that launched, every single one was completed by a well seasoned builder, who had several previous, smaller builds under their belt first. One in particular was 45' ketch, built be a mast shipwright. It was this boat that inspired me to get into it many decades ago. It took him 7 and half years of daily work, but what a beauty. His second child was conceived and born on the boat on the east coast of south America, while they prepared for their first Pacific crossing. He died a few years back, but I talked to his widow not long ago. She still sails the boat, now renamed after him, after spending most of it's life named after her.

A handful out of how many ? Not counting bloody submarines !

[PAR]

Countless dozens, I haven't been keeping too careful a track.

[Mr Efficiency]

Judging by what I've seen on these forums, Americans are far more inclined to get involved in an amateur build than over here, for example. A lot of people wouldn't be seen dead in a plywood boat here. Snobby attitude for sure, but there is just no enthusiasm for DIY boats in the under 30' size range, with the possible exception of the odd welder using their skills to knock up a plate alloy boat.

[BPL]

That is too bad. I believe it's less here than it was in the past too, which is also too bad.

[PAR]

Actually, I've found your country has about as much interest in home building as ours. Of course this has a lot to do with favorable social/economic and political climates too, but I personally know of dozens of Australians building their first or yet another boat, including a few of my design. In fact, I enjoy the "get it done" attitude your countrymen seem to have. In recent years everyone has "slowed" down their discretionary funds expenditures, but it's still alive, getting better and kicking hard.

[Mr Efficiency]

Yeah, might be more so in southern states of Australia, but hereabouts (qld) less so I think.