What Software Do I Use?

[Slacker]

I want to buy software to design a performance boat between 25-30 feet. What is the best software to use considering ease of learning, tutorials, price, and ease of manufacturing?

Originally Posted by Slacker

I want to buy software to design a performance boat between 25-30 feet. What is the best software to use considering ease of learning, tutorials, price, and ease of manufacturing?

Try "freeship" first, it´s free. Play a bit around to get familiar with it. Find out if such a software is what you want, and if your knowledge is sufficient to understand what happens!

Search the forum for several links towards the software DL.

Regards
Richard

[PAR]

As Richard suggested FreeShip can be helpful, but it doesn't tell you what is a good shape, what is a bad one and most importantly why. These software packages are little more then tools. They're a direct replacement for the drafting table, T square and pocket calculator that we used before they were available. If you don't understand the concepts, principles and engineering applications behind a powerboat, no software package is going to help. You'll just end up with pretty pictures of powerboats looking things.

My computer is currently sitting on my old drafting table. Every once and a while I actually get to use the table for what it was intended, but not very often. Education is the only route to successful design. You can attempt to do this yourself, though it's very difficult and takes a long time, mostly because you don't know what to study, nor how to apply it to your end goal, designing a successful powerboat.

My recommendation is build a library of yacht design books. There are many to choose from, here in the BoatDesign Book Store or at your favorite book seller. Next play with the software, get a feel for it, as the learning curve will not be gentle. From the books, get a grasp on the concepts and principles, applying them to your computer models.

We'll be here to answer your many new questions.

I should´nt post any longer, just tell PAR that I would.
He just allways makes clear what I only "wanted" to express.
Thanks PAUL
Richard

[Ad Hoc]

when you say "design"...do you mean the type of "design" as noted by PAR, ie facts, first principals, using established theories etc, or do you mean the type of "design" that many here subscribe to, and that is just "drawing", ie a bit of software to replace a drawing table, paper and pen?

The two "design" functions are poles apart.