Boat Design Book

I'm looking for recommendations for a book that explains boat design to a rank amateur. I've read John Teale's book, but it's a bit over my head and I still don't understand the basics. It includes terms that are not explained in the glossary or through contextual inference in the text. Although I've picked up some good information, I don't feel as though I have basic knowledge of the primary issues one must understand when designing a boat; and how they work together.

Certainly, each writer is going to speak more directly to one reader than another based on style, but I'd like to hear what you consider a good primer for the novice. Which book did you read that enabled you to say, 'Now I get it...'?

Thanks,

Tom Herrick

 

http://books.boatdesign.net/boat/books.cgi?Operation=ItemLookup&ItemId=007024233X&locale=us

http://books.boatdesign.net/boat/books.cgi?Operation=ItemLookup&ItemId=0070076944&locale=us

 

Go to this page: http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/links.html

About half way down the Page on the left are Books of Interest to Builders.

At the complete bottom of the page is a much longer list of books.

If you are thinking about traditional boats look at
Yacht Designing and Planning by Howard Chapelle. You can proabbly find it at your library. It's been around a long time but it's a classic.

If you are looking for something more recent try
Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding, By George Buehler.

If you really want to get into the fundamentals of design then get
The Nature of Boats: Insights and Esoterica for the Nautically Obsessed, By David Gerr

 

Thanks guys. I'll take your references with me to Fawcett's in Annapolis today. They seem to have a good list of design-related books on their Web site. It'll be nice to page through them before I buy.

Tom

 

And here's a good site to get you started for free!

 

Trev,

Thanks much. I was leaning towards Brewer's book based simply on the title. After reading the introduction at his Web site (thanks to the link you thoughtfully provided) I made a bee-line to the bookstore and bought the one copy they had on the shelf. On the road, I only had time to peruse it, but he speaks to me and I get it.

Thanks again,

Tom Herrick

 

Once you finish "Understanding Boat Design" by Ted Brewer & are looking for more, I would suggest the "Nature of Boats" by Dave Gerr as Ike also noted.

The Nature of Boats has alot more to read as it's over twice as thick.
One example is determining how fast a boat will go with a given displacement weight & engine.

It also talks a little bit about propellers & engines and how to pick the right one for your boat.

 

Thanks, Athlon. The "Nature of Boats" on my 'next' list. I'm getting a lot out of Brewer's book, though I'll probably have to read it twice to plug the holes in my understanding.

Tom

 

Skene's "Elements of Yacht Design" edited (re-written is more like it) by Kinney is an excellent addition to the above mentioned books

Steve

 

Another classic which I cut my teeth on, is Larsson and Eliasson's Principles of Yacht Design

 

I hope to get to all these books at some point in this short life. Currently working on Gerr's "Nature of Boats" and finding it most satisfying. He seems to understand my informational absorption rate, providing an early overview of how things work without shying away from technical terms used in context; and me not worrying about understanding them totally since they'll be explained in Chap. 16... This is the book I needed at this stage. Thanks too all. I'll get to more when time permits.

T

 

I don't know if it has been translated in english, but I sincerely recommend this one to everyone:
"Lo Yacht" (The Yacht) - by Carlo Sciarelli. :!:

This gentleman, Carlo Sciarelli, was one of the most respected italian designers of wooden sailyachts. his boats are considered by many to be the authentic artworks. He died in 2006 at the age of 68, and I remember that news about his death really shook me because of the immense respect I had towards his work. Unfortunately I never got to meet him during his lifetime and I feel sorry for that. Looking back at his creations I believe there were so many more unwritten and untold things the young yachtsman and designers could have learned from him if only there was more time.

The book is written in a briliant style, with only some very basic math and with a lots of practical examples illustrated through drawings, waterlines, sections, constructive particulars etc. And with a lots (but really lots) of hystorical informatons, reaching back to ancient Greece.
Sciarelli's language is vivid and full of humor, very easy to read and comprehend. His opinions were often very cynic and his judgements about modern yachts was often harsh but each time well argumented.

Hope you will be able to find this book and that you will appreciate it as much as I did.

 

Hereschoffs " The Common Sense of Yacht Design" is a good one.

 

you should read it!

BTW, HERRESHOFF was his name...

 

I heard that it was likely Herr Eshoff or Herr Eschoff and corrupted in english. Any truth to that. Halsey pronounces it Herresoff.