connects boat builders and designers on the web, highlighting innovations in both small and large sailboat and powerboat design, showcasing great boatbuilding projects by amateurs and professionals, and providing access to resources, materials, and inspirational sites.

Our design & boatbuilding forums and our gallery have also been growing. With over 500,000 posts now, the forums are a great place to discuss all aspects of boat design and boat building.  And with over 17,000 images posted by our members which have been viewed by members and visitors over 42 million times so far, the gallery is an exciting place to show your work. We encourage everyone to take a look at the boat design and boatbuilding forums and gallery, and we look forward to seeing your questions, answers, ideas, comments, and reviews.
Please visit the Forums
 

DESIGN AWARD:

BO ZOLLAND (HERMANFORM)
& DOLVIK BOATBUILDERS

"Born in 1952, Swedish designer Bo Zolland was bitten by the wooden boat bug in 1963 while sitting in his uncle's Caravelle with a Merc 6 inline engine. He has been drawing wooden boats as long as he can remember." Shown above, the Boxter is described as "the smallest and simplest type of runabout, and the closest you can come to the pure runabout racing experience. 18' long, with a V6 MerCruiser engine forward of the cockpit, the Boxter is capable of speeds up to 35 knots."

For a larger and equally head-turning design, shown above is but one of Bo Zolland's numerous classic cruisers designed for Dolvik Boats. Each will be a unique jewel on the water. From the overall proportions and beauty to the fine details such as the wind screen designs on the open fisherman shown below, Bo Zolland takes details that recall fond legacies from the past and very successfully arranges them into breathtaking and unexpected new compositions, every one a boat that makes me hope I have camera in hand the first time I see her on the water – well that is if I'm not able to be at the helm!

DESIGN AWARD:

OX7.1PS RUNABOUT DESIGN

Since adding The Gallery to Boat Design Net where visitors can register and upload their projects for comment and exhibit, we have been surprised and thrilled day after day by the great projects which have been added so far.

A prime example is this runabout design, "a single stepped monohull built in modern materials with topsides inspired from runabouts of the twenties and thirties."
Her lines are beautiful and allude to a rich history which can't help but produce an emotional attachment.  It's one of those boats that allow you to feel and imagine the experience even  just watching it sit gently at rest.   It will be exciting to see more photos posted as this boat comes to life later this year...

DESIGN FEATURE:

BOAT DESIGN GALLERY
GROWING SINCE 2002

"Offshore or Inshore, Virtual Marine Concepts' North Rip 27 has the speed, range, and seaworthiness that serious sportfisherman have long waited for.  A unique blend of sportfishing form and function that is designed around 25 years of Northeast Offshore and Inshore angling."
 

8 mR Spossa II posted by Uli "I started my first working day as a boadbuilder on that "sexy lady." Five years later she looks better than ever before," says Uli.
Larger View / More

72' LOA. 21' BEAM. 7' DRAFT. She is a work in progress and has been for a few years. Posted by 8knots.
Larger View / More

A beautiful rendering by Marigraph Design Solutions:  The 184' sail training barquentine "Calliope" was especially designed to serve as floating classroom on world-wide long-time voyages.
Larger View / More

DESIGN AWARD:

STEPHEN C. BAKER

As our forums and gallery have grown this year, we've been very fortunate to attract a number of great designers and interesting concepts.  Looking at this 'year in review' so far, two of the favorites were "Myrddin," a 32' Classic canoe-sterned Launch, and "Taliesin," a 50' trawler yacht, both beautifully designed by Stephen C. Baker.

In the designer's own words: "Myrddin was borrowed, and I use that word advisedly, from the launch Merlin used by Bill Garden as an island tender.  Merlin has a definite charm and the sort of 'do anything' character that has endeared old working boats to me for years, and it was a case of love at first sight. With Myrddin, I have tried to create something with the same feeling and utility as the new 'Picnic Boat' trend, but with the grace and qualities of the original."

From the same hull form, the larger 50' Taliesin was then brought to life. Continuing with Stephen's own words to describe this wonderful boat, "there is ample room for almost any interior you could want in a 50-footer, and near-standing headroom is available in the engine room. She would be perfect for low-impact, low-speed cruising almost anywhere in the world. Cruising speed would be around 8.5 knots, and draft is less than 6 feet."

These two designs capture the imagination as few boats do. They deserve a place in any hall of fame... and they certainly have a place in our hall of fame.  Click the link below to visit Stephen Baker's web site for more information, or click the gallery link to see a number of great designs which Stephen has been kind enough to post in our design gallery.

DESIGN AWARD:

JIM ANTRIM / ANTRIM ASSOCIATES
 

Jim Antrim caught the world's attention when with Alex Kozloff he designed the 62' electric powered trimaran Duffy Voyager for the Duffy Electric Boat Company.  The Duffy Voyager set and holds a world record for battery powered boating with the 52-mile round trip crossing from Newport Beach to Catalina Island.

The Duffy Voyager is but one of many, many cutting-edge Antrim designs.  Graduating from the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture in 1972, Jim Antrim has designed a multitude of sleek, efficient, lightweight advanced-composite multihull and monohull sailboats, commercial and cruising powerboats, and electric boats, as well as smaller, utility, and purpose-built designs. Shown above and below is his 40' Racer/Cruiser Tri, a fully demountable trimaran (for road transportation) built by Atlantix Innovations Marines, Inc.

"In 18 knots of wind, the first test sail showed speeds of 21 knots with only small jib and main." The design is equally graceful as either a performance design (shown here) or as a cruiser with standup headroom (shown on the Antrim Design web site)

A masterful composites engineer capable of designing strong lightweight durable structure, and a designer capable of the most graceful lines always equally practical as beautiful, Jim Antrim continues to impress with one unique design after another.
It will be exciting to continue to watch the designs which come off the Antrim drawing board in the days, months, and years to come.  If you don't already have the Antrim Design web site bookmarked, now is the time to take a look.

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