• Radius Chine Plywood Construction  
  Description of this method of plywood construction as used by Dudley Dix for the DIDI range of designs. Dudley Dix. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5507)  Rate | Cached | Visit Radius Chine Plywood Construction

• Radius Chine Steel Construction  
  Describes this method of steel boatbuilding and how it optimises the conflicting needs of aesthetics, ease of construction, cost, performance and resale value. Dudley Dix. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 3610)  Rate | Cached | Visit Radius Chine Steel Construction

• Reverse Engineering 3D Computer Hull Shapes From 2D Lines and Offsets  
  Virtually all boats are developments or extrapolations of previous designs. With the advent of computer-aided design for boats and ships, there is a desire to recreate many of these tried-and-true designs as 3-dimensional surface models to use as references or starting shapes. For others, however, the goal is to recreate a classic design on the computer for study purposes or to build a replica of the vessel. This 2D to 3D reverse engineering problem will be discussed in this article. Stephen M. Hollister. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5321)  Rate | Cached | Visit Reverse Engineering 3D Computer Hull Shapes From 2D Lines and Offsets

• Archive: Rigid Wing Sails  
  Analysis, design, fabrication, and testing of semi rigid sail on a windsurfer. (Added: 18-Mar-2002 Hits: 2884)  Rate | Cached | Archive

• Roll Reduction Strategies  
  This article was originally prepared as a response to a post to the Trawler World mailing list on the subject of Twin Keels and Roll reduction. It includes a brief description of the research done by Lord Riverdale and includes a summary of the research of others on the benefits of various roll reduction strategies for power vessels and Motor Sailors. Michael Kasten. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 3745)  Rate | Cached | Visit Roll Reduction Strategies

• Sections for Proa Boards and Rudders  
  Design of three families of sections for shunting proas. These sections have fore-aft symmetry and rounded edges. Complete coordinates and XFOIL computed data are presented. (Added: 25-Mar-2002 Hits: 2483)  Rate | Cached | Visit Sections for Proa Boards and Rudders

• Simpson's Rules (and others)  
  "Simpson’s Rules are among the most useful tools that designers have in their 'math toolbox.' They are the simplest to apply, the least accurate of similar methods and the easiest to screw up - when I say similar, I exclude the trapezoidal rule and counting squares." (Added: 4-Dec-2002 Hits: 3547)  Rate | Cached | Visit Simpson's Rules (and others)

• Stock Boat Designs  
  Answers to those questions, and also outlines what one should ordinarily expect when purchasing a stock design from a marine design office. Michael Kasten. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5492)  Rate | Cached | Visit Stock Boat Designs

• Surface-Piercing Propellers  
  The art of positioning a propeller underneath a boat hull is not a new one. Designers and naval architects have been grappling with every aspect of the propulsion-by-propeller problem for generations, and the result has been the evolution... (Added: 25-Sep-1999 Hits: 4482)  Rate | Cached | Visit Surface-Piercing Propellers

• The Advantages of Twin Keels  
  There has been a growing interest in twin keel boats in North America. When first developed, these boats had large keels to support them when sitting on the mud flats, causing them to be slow in light airs due to excessive wetted surface. Yet these very same boats had to be perfectly at home sailing in the strong winds and rough waters of the North Sea and English Channel. They quickly acquired a reputation as good cruisers as their shallow draft and seaworthiness are features at the top of any cruising man's list. Bray Yacht Design. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5188)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Advantages of Twin Keels

• The Basics of Bulbous Bows  
  In the late 1950s research was undertaken to reduce the drag on large commercial cargo ships. Many different ideas were tried and continue to be tried today in the ongoing development of the science of Naval Architecture. With model testing and advanced knowledge of hydrodynamics, the bulbous bow was formulated typically giving a 5% reduction in fuel consumption over a narrow range of speed and draft. This was significant for a large ship crossing vast oceans at a time when the cost of fuel was rising. Patrick J. Bray. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5095)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Basics of Bulbous Bows

• The Case for Lofting  
  The reasons for and benefits of lofting and gives the basics of lines drawings and offset tables. Dudley Dix. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5284)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Case for Lofting

• Archive: The causes of boat hull blisters  
  The problem of fiberglass gel coat blistering has plagued the boat business, both recreational and commercial, for the past 15 to 20 years, reaching significant importance within the past decade. By Thomas J. Rockett, Ph.D. and Vincent Rose, Ph.D (Added: 18-Apr-2002 Hits: 3748)  Rate | Cached | Archive

• The Design Spiral for Computer-Aided Boat Design  
  This article describes the overall boat design spiral process and its relationship to modern computer-aided design and engineering tools. Each major phase of design (design statement, conceptual design, preliminary design, and detailed design) is discussed in detail with examples of how the computer can effectively optimize the boat and speed the design process. Stephen M. Hollister. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5267)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Design Spiral for Computer-Aided Boat Design

• The Dirty Little Secrets of Hull Design by Computer  
  Published in Designer's Quarterly, this article discusses many of the difficulties of describing complex hull shapes using NURB surfaces. Stephen M. Hollister. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 6946)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Dirty Little Secrets of Hull Design by Computer

• The Ideal Motor Sailor  
  For long range passagemaking does the motor sailor have merit? What is the optimum hull form for a motor sailor? What's the best rig choice? Can a motor sailor be fast and efficient? This article attempts to answer these questions with an eye toward the requirements of ocean voyaging. Michael Kasten. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 4860)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Ideal Motor Sailor

• The Junk Rig  
  The junk rig shares many of the virtues of the gaff rig. The "Junk" rig or "Chinese Lug" rig is easy to handle, very easy to reef, easy and inexpensive to build, easy to rig, has no complex hardware, requires no winches, is easy to maintain, involves very low rigging stresses, provides a low center of effort so requires less beam or depth of keel, and at least in my view, looks great! Michael Kasten. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5173)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Junk Rig

• The New U.L.D.B. Sailboats  
  Today's U.L.D.B.s are commonly built of high technology materials with ballast ratios around 50% of their total weight. These long, sleek, feather weights tend to sail on their ears, making them less desirable as cruising vessels despite their other advantages. Bray Yacht Design. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 4306)  Rate | Cached | Visit The New U.L.D.B. Sailboats

• The Yacht Design Process  
  The boat design process is made up of a series of incremental steps, much like the building process itself. This is a summary of how a new yacht design is created; an outline of how an entirely new boat is imagined, sketched and drawn. Michael Kasten. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 6062)  Rate | Cached | Visit The Yacht Design Process

• To Home Build or Not  
  More home-built boats begin construction in any given year then shop-built boats. And while many home-built boats are beautiful examples of marine craftsmanship the majority are never finished. Therefore it is essential prior to constructing your dream vessel to be totally realistic (or as realistic as one can be in a dream) to the costs and hours involved. Bray Yacht Design. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 5064)  Rate | Cached | Visit To Home Build or Not

• Trailerable Trawlers  
  An article containing a few bits and pieces of interest to trailering. Michael Kasten. (Added: 10-Jan-2002 Hits: 4144)  Rate | Cached | Visit Trailerable Trawlers

• Transverse Stability and Longitudinal Trim Articles  
  Transverse stability is first defined and practical application formulas are presented. The includes the effects of weights and moments on one side. The effects of displaced volume properties on the other side. Concepts like metacentric height are utilized. Then the effects of weight distribution and vessel hydrostatic response in the longitudinal direction are then described and trim formulas are derived and presented for application. Someone with a basic algebra background should be able to understand and benefit from these articles. (Added: 20-Sep-2006 Hits: 2823)  Rate | Cached | Visit Transverse Stability and Longitudinal Trim Articles

• U.S. Navy Ferro Cement Boat Building Manual - Volume 1  
  A training aid and guide for ferro-cement boat building. Covers the two basic construction methods – the upright welded cage and the inverted wood mold techniques. The "Upright Welded Cage Method" is described from lofting through launching in Volume I. The construction of a 65-foot Patrol Boat Hull is demonstrated. (Added: 15-Mar-2006 Hits: 2667)  Rate | Cached | Visit U.S. Navy Ferro Cement Boat Building Manual - Volume 1

• U.S. Navy Ferro Cement Boat Building Manual - Volume 2  
  Covers ferro cement boat building plastering tools and their use, preparation for plastering, plastering, steam curing and hull repair. Applying the mortar to a ferro-cement hull is hard work. The chemical action of setting cement waits for no man. The people undertaking this strenuous and exacting job must work hard and fast to properly apply the mortar to a hull. The mortar must thoroughly penetrate the mesh, and be smoothly finished both inside and out or all the good work preceding plastering can be destroyed. Plastering is an extremely critical stage of boat-building but the most rewarding. (Added: 15-Mar-2006 Hits: 2144)  Rate | Cached | Visit U.S. Navy Ferro Cement Boat Building Manual - Volume 2

• U.S. Navy Ferro Cement Boat Building Manual - Volume 3  
  This is a record of the building of ten 42-ft. fishing boats in the Bahamas. It illustrates the methods, equipment and organization required to construct ten ferro-cement boats on a remotely situated beach, with relatively unskilled labor. Much of this record is devoted to the fitting out of a ferro-cement boat. It is in some detail, and it concerns one particular design of fishing boat. The construction method chosen was the inverted wooden mold. For hulls up to 50 feet in length, and for utilizing unskilled labor, this method has been shown to be most efficient providing that adequate lifting and rolling gear is available. (Added: 15-Mar-2006 Hits: 2349)  Rate | Cached | Visit U.S. Navy Ferro Cement Boat Building Manual - Volume 3