Yacht Design Short Course

Yacht and Boat Design with Tad Roberts

Spend one week (6 days) with an experienced Yacht Designer in a student driven program to design a boat, revise your current boat, or learn more about design. You’ll be working in an intensive, one-on-one environment here in Silva Bay in a busy design office. Accommodation is available in the same building, see http://www.silvabayinn.ca/

Two main programs are offered, focusing on either sail or powerboat design. Both hand drawing and computer design using AutoCAD (2D), Rhinoceros (3D), and FreeShip (Hull design and hydrostatics) will be taught.

Day One;
Conceptual design, the design spiral, powering concepts, preliminary lines sketching, weights, styling, floation principals.

Day Two;
Hull lines drawing/computer modeling, design ratios, stability, resistance, control surfaces.

Day Three;
Construction…..materials, loads, scantling rules, design weights, ballast, sailing rigs and balance

Day four;
Hull Lines 2, general arrangement, tanks and machinery, propellers and shafting

Day Five;
Exterior styling, construction details, deck plans, design integration

Day Six;
Pulling it all together, finish drawings, final weights, budget, artwork, colour and shading.

Cost $850

Contact Tad Roberts to arrange scheduling

 

Hey Tad,

Are you affiliated with the Silva Bay Shipyard school?

A good friend of mine went through that program about a decade ago, wondering if you might know him.

 

It could be.....I was on the board of directors and an adviser for about 8 years from 2001 on........The school has built a series of my designs and I've modified others for them, a new rig for a Newfoundland Trap Skiff this year.......

 

His name is Andrew Malcomb, graduated in 2002 (I think, it was a long time ago). I came out to the island for the graduation and thought it was one of the coolest places I've ever been to. If we ever have a BD west coast meet-up it's going to be at your house

 

The name seems familiar, probably I would recognize the face immediately, I gave a few class lectures back in those days.........but I saw perhaps 100 or so students go through the school......hard to pick out just one.....

By all means you are always welcome here........

 

I've received a few inquiries about the course, mostly they run about like this.............

I saw your posting for the short course in boat design. This seems like
quite a pile of info to pack into a week.
Is this intended to give somebody an idea of what is involved in boat
design, or to enable them to leave after a week with enough confidence
to take on a design project of their own? I assume you would have to
know Rhino and Autocad ahead of time.
Tell me a bit more of what you are thinking with this course if you can.


And my answer......

You are of course correct, the amount of info could easily overwhelm…..But the course is student driven and one on one, thus the info presented will be tuned to the student’s needs……I think this can work…..everything can be touched on (as I have laid out in the proposed curriculum), but much will be “filed” for later examination…….

The idea came from all the folks that seem to want to design their own boat (and make a first post on BoatDesign stating how they are doing this) but make simple fundamental blunders which some first hand advice could help them avoid…….I am not going to teach one to be a professional yacht designer in a week…..but we can get through the basics of designing “a” boat……then the student can go home and work on it some more, submitting further efforts for comment via email…..I won’t teach Rhino or AutoCAD or Freeship in a week either, but at least you will see some examples of what they can do (and see how they may be of use) and try them for yourself with an advisor looking over your shoulder…..

If you wanted to specialize in drawing boats with Rhino, AutoCAD, or Freeship we could do that for a week ....Or we could focus on powerboat bottom design, or on freehand drawing…..or sailboat keels, or ISO standards……..What you learn is up to you……..

 

well done Tad

 

A review of my time spent with Tad Roberts

When Tad offered the opportunity to attend his 6-day program, I jumped at the chance. As some know, I am working on the YDS cad course, in preparation for doing Tom MacNaughton's design program.

Unfortunately, dealing with the local worker's compensation board, due to career-ending injuries, means that I've been spending far too much time with doctors & lawyers &, in general, "life" has gotten in the way of my goal to re-invent myself in naval architecture/yacht design. Tad's 6-day program was,
in essence, exactly what I needed to get myself back on track.

We started much the way someone would if Tad were designing a boat for them, I assume, by discussing the general concept of the boat I wanted to work on as a project. I won't go into further details in this regard as Tad has laid out a course outline already. Tad is very accommodating, however, and has that skill that complements his experience & knowledge of design, namely, the ability to teach well.

While I still see the road ahead as a long one, it doesn't seem quite as steep as it did a week ago. I realize that I really have to "turn on the jets" with my cad course and truly appreciate for the first time just how much knowledge & experience is required to design marine vessels properly.

Who do I think would benefit from Tad's course? Well, anyone who wants to design marine vessels - from those with no previous knowledge and/or experience to the engineer who wishes to work in that field - anyone who wishes to build his/her own boat, and people who want to have a boat designed for them. The latter group I believe would benefit in gaining an understanding of why you can't build a boat with the amenities of a 60 footer into a 30 foot hull. The builders-to-be would develop a clearer understanding
of what characteristics are beneficial/detrimental and why, and would save themselves the headaches & heartaches of having to go back & re-do work that creates conflicts in later phases of their project. Finally, if I had met Tad when I was in my early 20s, I probably would have made use of my uncompleted university education, rather than having let it fade away over the years. Obviously, anyone who is working toward becoming a designer would benefit from a "taste" of what's what, as well.

And what about the man behind the course, you ask? Like the field of naval architecture, I only "scratched the surface" in getting to know Tad. Lots of adjectives jump to mind in describing the man I met; personable & of even temperament should suffice. Not the type to brag of his many accomplishments, through the week Tad would use his and others' works to explain why something was done in a specific way or why he felt an idea
"pathway" was/was not the prefered one to travel down. But, what I appreciated most was that nothing I drew - or said, for that matter -
was ever criticized, we simply tweaked the odd anomaly and it was always my option to follow his suggestion or stick with my own plan. Tad has a reference library that is so vast that you simply have to see it to understand. He even has a truckload or 2 in storage.

Finally, I'd like to thank Tad, his wife, Carey(sp.?), and their sons, Zig(sp.?) and James, all who made me feel most welcome. There is simply too much that I could talk about, such as Tad's incredible background, but I'll leave things at this point and anyone who has specific questions - about the course, Gabriola Island, or anything else related - can ask them, here.

Mike