General Speed boat building tech

[cwbyup]

Hi all,

I am just wondering if there is any where someone can point me to that can teach about hull design for building speed boats.

I am looking for explanations of things like dual stepped chines, transom set back, lifting foils etc.

I am looking at building a stern drive in the range of 21 to 24ft for river and light harbor use.

In Australia the two closest example would be

Force Boats - http://forceboats.com/F23.htm

or

Connelly Boats - http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php...10540598965964

I have basic fiberglass knowledge but need more info so I start to design my boat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Nick Wright

[gonzo]

Westlawn has distance learning for Naval Architecture.

[cwbyup]

Thanks for the info but i was hoping I could find books or dvds etc.

Also I'm in australia.

Thanks any way though, any help is good help.

Cheers Nick

[PAR]

Nick it's years of study, then more of practical experience. You can read a dozen or so texts and get a good feel for what's going on (how's your math skills?), but mostly it's an education in nautical and structural engineering in several disciplines. West Lawn has students around the world.

[Alik]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Westlawn has distance learning for Naval Architecture.

No, they teach 'boat design', not NA.

[PAR]

Small craft design is what he's after Alik, which West Lawn will handily offer.

[gonzo]

In the US Westlawn will qualify for the minimum two year technical course as a preliminary for the professional engineer exam. From there you need five years of experience in the field to take the NA exam.

[Alik]

Originally Posted by gonzo

In the US Westlawn will qualify for the minimum two year technical course as a preliminary for the professional engineer exam. From there you need five years of experience in the field to take the NA exam.

I wonder how they can teach NA if none of instructors there has degree in NA? For boat design - yes they do teach, but don't call it NA. They study boat design by Gerr's books and after that Gerr issues them a diploma (Aftet that tution, those 'graduates' do not know what section modulus is).

Want real degree - go to real NA department in university. For boat design - yes Westlawn could be an option. One needs to have hands-on experience with boating and boatbuilding anyway, in both cases.

Here we go again...

[rxcomposite]

The poor guy just want some general information about boat design otherwise we would all be NA's in this forum.

He has some lofty ambitions though. For a start, we have Dingo here for a no step planing hull Savitsky method. There is also an article about stepped planing hull (a little more math than Dingo has) and a 2 part series article on a recent PB magazine regarding a really fast stepped planing hull.

If he reads that, he will be able to evaluate himself if he has asked for something more than he can chew.

So Cwbyup, start your homework, it's not easy.

[tom28571]

Even among Naval Architects there are apparently very few who can design a good stepped planing hull that performs as predicted. So yes, the OP has asked for more than this or any other forum can offer him. The reference to past issues of Professional Boatbuilder would be an excellent place to see the latest thinking on them and determine whether the quest is a reasonable one. In any event, stepped hulls have some severe limitations and are not ideal for most uses other than speed in relatively easy water.

[rxcomposite]

That's correct Tom. Some NA's live like a small fish in a big pond. When designing ships, they get only to see/work on a small piece of the whole thing.

[cwbyup]

Originally Posted by rxcomposite

The poor guy just want some general information about boat design otherwise we would all be NA's in this forum.

He has some lofty ambitions though. For a start, we have Dingo here for a no step planing hull Savitsky method. There is also an article about stepped planing hull (a little more math than Dingo has) and a 2 part series article on a recent PB magazine regarding a really fast stepped planing hull.

If he reads that, he will be able to evaluate himself if he has asked for something more than he can chew.

So Cwbyup, start your homework, it's not easy.

Thanks for the info rxcomposite.

I will be sticking to flat hull but it seams there is a fair bit more than I expected.

Cheers Nick

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by cwbyup

Hi all,

I am just wondering if there is any where someone can point me to that can teach about hull design for building speed boats.

I am looking for explanations of things like dual stepped chines, transom set back, lifting foils etc.

I am looking at building a stern drive in the range of 21 to 24ft for river and light harbor use.

In Australia the two closest example would be

Force Boats - http://forceboats.com/F23.htm

or

Connelly Boats - http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php...10540598965964

I have basic fiberglass knowledge but need more info so I start to design my boat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Nick Wright

WOW i been in the industry for long time and what you ask is not on paper its in peoples heads !! There are very few hard and fast rules accompanied with magic formular. Set back is a hit and miss thing unless you understand what it is all about and how it works join the rest of us . i worked for a fast boat, boat builder making tunnels and off shore power boats , in one year i learned more than i could have wished for!! non is written in books that i know of its just knowledge that people know from trial and error handed down from worker to worker ,company to company .
What i have learned over the years i have tried to hand on to others, its why i travel from country to country showing and handing knowedge to others . What i know is in my head and has taken a life time to learn and would take half a lifetime to show others , most is just plain common sense with a little thought mixed in plus ideas that other people have tried over the year !!
I spent my free time going to speed boat racing and taking hundreds of pictures and hours and hours pouring over them and trying to make sense of what i was looking at . Do it work or didnt it ? if it did work how well and could you use the same ideas on other things .
I hope you get my drift with all this !!!.