Education in Naval Architecture

[Mortier]

Hello all,

Glad I found this website.
I'm a 17 year old student (first year) in Naval Architecute in The Netherlands (Europe)

I've always loved yachts and sailing etc so choosing this as a study was not hard.

But after a few months one of my subjects called "Ship construction" lacks in quality. My teacher isn't really a teacher and he knows a lot but he can't teach very well.

The material we have is very old and poorly documented in my eye's.
We have one new book and its called Shipknowledge 2007. I thought I'd find something interesting here.

Well it's interesting but it's not helping me. There's no detailed ship constructive material in it.
I'm struggling to understand it all. And all I get are bad grades..

I'd like a well documented book with explanation about hulls, lineplans, formula's used to calculate forces etcetera..

A structured book about naval architecture that starts at the beginning.
Does anyone know a good book in this?

Thanks in advance,

Alex

[DavidJ]

I am also a naval architecture student and I remember having the exact same complaints in my first year(still do really). We have that same text book, but as you probably know it isn't much more than pretty pictures.

I'm sorry to say I haven't seen any easy to understand books on naval architecture. Most of the books out there might be useful as reference material once you understand the basics, but learning the basics is hard. My best advice is to talk to the other students and study with someone who has a good grasp on the subject. There is always someone who understands what is going on. Good luck.

[Mortier]

OK. Thanks for your answer.

I will just have to work alot for it I guess.

[waikikin]

Mortier, mabee try to seek out a "traineeship" where you share time between study & working on junior tasks for the employment your training for, it works well for apprentice tradesmen & I think most engineering courses in Australia prefer some on the job experience in the training as well & more experience to mentor your endeavours & understanding of the work & also remember that as a student it's your responsibility to adopt a learning attitude as well as be taught regardless of the skills of the teacher in comunicating his knowledge- that means sometimes you gotta massage the knowledge of the teacher from them. All the best from Jeff.

[mrryan]

I am starting at Southampton Solent in the fall semester of 2008. I want to design yachts like the ones Lurssen Yachts or Trinity Yachts design and build. Do you think a degree in yacht and powercraft design or a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering(NAME) would be better suited?

[DavidJ]

mrryan I don't think it really matters that much. There is lots of work out there and any marine based engineering will probably be enough to get you the job. The main benefit with doing the yacht and powercraft degree is that it shows future employers that you were interested in yachts from the beginning. Also the education might be more interesting to you.

When it comes down to it Naval Architecture is Naval Architecture is Naval Architecture. All of the same things that make a container ship or oil tanker float and not fall apart when hit by a wave are the same things that make a yacht float and not fall apart. When I started my education I was only interested in yachts. After a while I started to realize that the naval architects job is the same no matter what ship type I started to pay more attention to the big ships and smaller work boats. Not only is there more work available and better paying work available, it also appears there could be more interesting work available.

I realized that in yachts a lot of the interesting/non-math stuff is done by other workers. For example at large yacht places, "art" people do the actual designing and the naval architects will do the number crunching and the structure. Interior designers will design the interior arrangement and the outside styling will be done by industrial designers. Unless you are extremely naturally talented it will be a very long time(if ever) that a naval architect will get to do that work. However, on a work boat design the naval architect will do the interior design. The naval architect will also do the exterior design. So the more utilitarian the ship, the more varied the work the naval architect will get to do.

[Speng]

At the same time Solent's program has a great reputation

[Patrick BLOSSE]

Good evening,

Alex: In the field of yachting design, you will undoubtly have a pretty good investment for probably a long period of time with "Principles of yacht design", by L.LARSSON & R.ELIASSON, which will provide you the long term essentials.

Fair winds.

Patrick

[Mortier]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have that decided that I will try to go for the Yacht and Powercraft Design course as soon as next year. I can probably start there in September this year. It's more interesting to me. I will try to buy that book too!

[Smath83]

Dear David,
A well written answer.Do enlighten me with some talents such as yourself who would be looking to find employment in the u.A.E.
Regards
Mathew

Originally Posted by DavidJ

I am also a naval architecture student and I remember having the exact same complaints in my first year(still do really). We have that same text book, but as you probably know it isn't much more than pretty pictures.

I'm sorry to say I haven't seen any easy to understand books on naval architecture. Most of the books out there might be useful as reference material once you understand the basics, but learning the basics is hard. My best advice is to talk to the other students and study with someone who has a good grasp on the subject. There is always someone who understands what is going on. Good luck.