Boat design education and industry

[Liam]

I have completed a degree and film, and have done some research and design for windsurfing companies. Over the past few months i have become very interested in the design of sail boats/yachts. Is it possible to educate ones self in the sceince of boat design, and how should i go about this? I am thinking of it in hobby status for atleast a few years, but apart from taking out a few books from the library, can anyone point me in the right direction. Are there experienced and self trained designers in the industry? Or does one have to have come out of a university - another degree is not an option at least fro a couple of years.
Thanks
Liam

[CDBarry]

Get Larson and Eliasson's book for now, and go to the SNAME and RINA sites. Look for the CSYS site under SNAME, especially. Look at www.proboat.com, and their IBEX and E-marine training sites.

There are numerous strings here about careers and training here that cover options pretty well.

[Willallison]

To answer one of your questions, there are many self-trained, succesful designers, however like most fields yacht design is becoming an increasingly difficult field to enter unless you have 'a piece of paper' (which in my experience means little more than you know how to pass exams). If all you want is a hobby then the book CDBarry suggests is indeed a good place to start. Also search amazon.com for books on yacht design - there are many.

[CDBarry]

Again, it's not just a piece of papaer. There is a significant difference in the type and quantity of information that comes from a university engineering education as opposed to a yacht design school. The main difference is that a university engineering education is a process by which the student understands how all the material he is taught is derived from the most basic elements - it is said that all an engineer knows is Newton's laws, and then he just derives the rest as he goes along. This means that at least in theory an engineer is capable of extending that knowledge by himself in the same manner and understands the limitations and so on of all of the methods he uses.

Without this process, the student just learns a series of methods and "rules of thumb" without "profound knowledge" of what they are and what they mean. Application of routine rules of thumb is adequate for routine small craft design, but has limits.

In addition, commercial small craft, such as tugs, ferries, etc. are highly constrained by regulations and economics and often require very high levels of analytic skills to optimize - note here that designing a ferry is not just doing hull lines - it's structure, (usually FEA these days), HVAC, piping, fire protection, electrical, illumination, all of the mechanicals in the propulsion plant, vibration, noise, and on and on, and all of these aspects have to work together - so the designer has to be capable of handling all of these systems and has to get them all into a very small box. The yacht design courses can't cover this kind of thing either, but it's not really necessary in a small boat.

[SailDesign]

The main difference is that a university engineering education is a process by which the student understands how all the material he is taught is derived from the most basic elements

I'm going to take offence at that one, nicely of course
I went through the Southampton College (now Institute) course, graduating in 1980, and consider that I was taught all the background there is. My kid who just graduated from WPI as a Mech Eng did no more on basics than I did. Yes, the Institute is a "yacht design school", just happens to be a 3-year, intensive one.
Please don't damn all design schools just because some teach "rules of thumb" because they only have 20 or 40 weeks to do so.
Steve "no offence intended"

[CDBarry]

Please see another of my posts re Southhampton graduates I have worked with in the North Sea oil industry. This is more like a US MS Eng. and is a good a general NA education as can be found.

[Willallison]

When I say "in my experience" I refer not to the yacht design field at all. I have worked for over 20 years in my family's analytical laboratory. In that time we have had any number of people come to us as empolyees or students on work experience. Those with Uni degrees tend to know a great deal of theoretical (politically correct) chemistry, but when it comes to using a balance, or performing even the most basic of bench chemistry, they are completely lost. Hence my lack of enthusiasm for degreed professionals. This is not to say that I think a degreed NA is in the same boat - so to speak - simply thatthrough my own experience I don't rule out someones qualifications on the basis of whether they did, or did not, go to university.

[Antoine]

You could also purchase the following where you will learn one hell of a lot more for one hell of a lot less and avoid the miserable demands for exorbitant extension fees as soon as your time is up :

Principles of Yacht Design Lars Larsson
Yacht Designing and Planning Howard Chapelle
The Best of Uffa Uffa Fox
Aero-hydrodynamics of Sailing C.A. Marchaj
Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht Construction Uffa Fox
Sail Performance: Theory and Practice C.A. Marchaj
High Performance Sailing Frank Bethwaite
Elements of Yacht Design Norman Skene
American Small Sailing Craft Howard Chapelle

These titles are all available at Amazon.com

Best wishes to all Yacht Designers Everywhere :-)

[CDBarry]

This is a good point. If you have self discipline, a conventional drafting program from a community college and self-education in yacht design is probably pretty much the same as a mail order course, maybe better, since it's hard to learn to draft (either CAD or by hand) without some hands-on instruction. You can also make a living with a drafting certificate.

[Asukwo]

Am Asukwo by my name. A student of maritime Academic Of Nigeria Oron, Akwa Ibom State. Studing Boat/shilp-building Technology to enable me to occupie a job out-side Nigeria.
Look forwared to hear from u soon.

Thanks