Can everybody design?

Yes. Actually I am way downwind. 1 county north of Tampa.

 

Do you live in Pasco? that's a nice area...we used to live in st petersburg and would go for drives in that area, really nice. We now live in walton county on choctawhatchee bay and miss the area.

 

The grass is always greener... Every county in Florida has its beautiful and less beautiful places.

 

Well, sometimes...

 

The grass is always taller on my side of the fence!

 

We must share the same mowing philosophy!

 

So, I guess that's the end of the "Can everybody design?" thread.

 

Well, Eric, I guess so. I wonder what the conclusion was, I am so confused . . .

Perhaps we need a poll:

1 anyone can
2 nobody can
3 only trained, qualified and certified professionals can
4 anyone except a trained, qualified and certified professional can
5 my dog can but doesn't choose to

 

Bark Bark

 

Eric, I like Your writing on this subject in last PBB. Nothing to add.

 

I am not sure that is going to work. I think the conclusion is, yes, anybody can design, but at what level do you want to take it?

Do you want to design just for yourself? Yes, then anybody can design.

Do you want to design a one-off or production boat for someone else? No, not everyone can. And you had better be pretty well qualified to put your design at someone else's risk. Lives are literally at stake.

What is qualification? You need to know what you are doing. You get that by experience, education, and, preferably, both. Some customers (production boat builders and some individuals) will require a certain amount of qualification on the designer's part, and that may include a naval architecture or engineering degree, a good design portfolio of prior projects, and, most importantly, credibility. Sometimes, particularly in commercial vessel design, qualification may require a professional engineering license. Personally, I think PE licenses should be voluntary, and I have written extensively on that before, and I don't think we need go any further on that topic or this thread will just go off on another tangent.

What is credibility? It is that certain je ne sais quois that comes from the other things: education, experience, prior work. You cannot buy credibility, you have to earn it. That takes time.

Eric

 

derek kensall gave a good rule of thumb on page 9 tho

witch usually will cost but now seeing some campers

 

As a professional boatbuilder, I am not a qualified naval architect, but I have met many an arrogant NA that refuses to admit his there mistakes and has little comprehension of how boats are built and therefore the builder has to figure out how to fix these problems, by education, experience and yes the basic rules of naval architecture. I have drastically redesigned a few boat without any consequenses but I'd much rather have a NA that is willing to communicate and problem solve...That said for my own personal use I'd feel right at home designing my own boat.

 

Over about 30 years designing, developing for production and producing products I've found that happily paying professionals when required is much cheaper than learning things the hard way by making avoidable mistakes. It's really important to be honest with yourself about strengths and weaknesses - and the first thing to acknowledge is that you have weaknesses.

Our time is the most valuable asset we have - and the clock doesn't stop running for anyone. Money allows you to buy "time" from someone else and avoid running down your own clock. One of the professionals here can probably handle resolution of complex design elements in a fraction of the time us amateurs can, and even if the hourly rate is higher, the net cost is much lower.

I'm all for encouraging amateur efforts - and I'm contemplating my next one as a solo design effort. I know up front the risks and pitfalls of my course, but for me the journey is more fun (& valuable) than reaching the destination.

--
CutOnce

 

I think these two sum it up nicely.