Yacht Design Books

[Seafra]

I'm looking for some good books on yacht design. I'm looking for books that assume a certain level of confidence and mathematical proficiency, but don't assume you went to school for Marine Architecture.

So mainy- not "Yacht Design for Dummies" but not something you'd have a hard time reading through in a master in mechanical engineering.

Any recommendations?

[Figgy]

Did you see the boat design book store?
http://books.boatdesign.net/
Most anything you get, you can understand. If you have a good grasp on algebra, your in good shape.

[Seafra]

Ha, great suggestion- I suppose I didn't need to look very far for a library.

Any personal suggestions for good/informative reads?

[Figgy]

That depends on a number of things..
Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing by C.A.Marchaj is my favorite and has taught me the most of all the books I've read. But thats just me.
Somebody will come along soon and suggest some good books for you.

[Crag Cay]

The two volumes of Sailing Yacht Design and Theory by Andrew Claughton et al, do a reasonable job of supplimenting a book like Larsson and Eliasson's Principals of Yacht Design. Collectivelyb they are prehaps the definitive texts. I would certainly recommend a copy of L&E's book but would hold off on the first two until you can see a copy and deside whether they are what you want, as they are far from cheap.

http://books.boatdesign.net/boat/boo...hton&locale=us

[Chris Ostlind]

Gosh, there are perhaps a dozen good books to get you going and from there, you'll only be limited by your time and the cash flow available for the enterprise.

I like:

Yacht Design Explained by Steve Killing

The Nature of Boats by Dave Gerr

High Performance Sailing by Frank Bethwaite

These three books will get you thoroughly immersed in the topic without killing your pocket book. From there, you can quickly expand into the world of sailing as presented by Larsson and Eliasson. The L/E book is much more dense with maths and technical descriptions than is the Killing book. The Killing book will cover all the essential bits in a clean, graphical manner so that the process is clear.

I totally enjoy the Gerr book because it touches on all kinds of boaty stuff and is not limited to sailing. I find it extremely helpful to understand the workings of a power boat and its engine(s), propellors and design issues as that knowledge, in many ways, is parrallel to the understanding you will need for sailboats.

Bethwaite's book is a knockout for getting to the heart of the matter of performance sailing. He's especially dialed-in to skiff sailing parameters, but many of the issues are universal in nature and contribute a broader whole.

After these are the books by Marchaj... and by the time you get to this place, you will have already found many distinct arenas for personal discovery. Try to borrow the Marchaj writings as they are a good deal of money unless you plan on developing a personal, permanent library on the subject.

Chris

[Seafra]

Wow, I appreciate all the recommendations you guys have. I plan to pick up two for now to get my feet wet.

I think the L&E(are you talking about Principles of Yacht Design?) and perhaps the Bethwaite book seem like a good place to start. I say this because it's my understanding that L&E are very focused on making a good ocean cruising type vessel in their book, and it would be useful to compliment/contrast that with racing skiff design.