How to become a effective yacht designer?

I want to be a yacht designer, what do i need to know?

 

http://www.sponbergyachtdesign.com/ArticlesDesigner.htm

http://www.kastenmarine.com/student.htm

 

You need a University engineering degree and a passion for boats. Both of the successful yacht designers I know have no formal training in " yacht design" one was educated as a Mechanical Engineer and the other an Electrical engineer. Yacht design was simply a personal interest that spun into a career.

 

Which arises another question - how does one define a "successful" yacht designer?

 

I dont know... depends on what your success " goal" is. Ron worked on two Americas cup campaigns and Ryan went to work for one of the best known yacht design studios . You would not recognize either of their names because both are buried in design teams.

Perhaps in another ten years they will hang their own sign and you may see a Ron 45 win the Copa del Rey.

 

I generally know very well that part of the story.

 

You need to know how to design yachts that people want to buy. You can go to collage to learn yacht design, but you could still starve if you do not have customers.

Not much will tell you what people will want in a yacht until you learn the hard way. That means first working for a successful design company and learn what makes them successful. That will get you further along in a career than all the formal education in the world.

Good luck.

 

You can also take a Yacht Design course from Westlawn. http://www.westlawn.edu/

There are schools that also offer Naval Architecture, Yacht design and related studies. See my links page. http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/links.html Scroll down to Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Schools USA, and Schools Offering Boat Building and Marine Design Studies

 

Here are few advices:

- Get the software;
- Draw sle-e-ek nonsense boat/object; start from about 300 feet (good size for beginner).
- Render, render, render it...
- Send it to all magazines - and here You are a famous yacht designer!

Just a joke But many 'designers' are like that now.

In reality, a) try to be around/on boats and yards, and b) get real engineering/naval architecture/marine design education. I mean University degree, not 'correspondence divinity school' Real degree is required to be competitive nowdays. Then, c) add a bit of luck and get good job in design office/yard to start.

 

Alik, 300 feet is a good size for a beginner? or a billionaire?

Laranjo
Add to all of the above - Go sailing, on every chance you get. Build boats, or help others build them. Draw them on your computer and draw them on paper, Do your own designs as Alik suggests, then do all the calculations for the scantlings, the hydrodynamics, compliance with ISO and racing rating rules. Then go sailing again.

See if you can visit a desiger and show him what you can do, see if they will show you around their office and yard, and give you some advice in person. They wont give you a job, until you have visited them 20 times and shown them that what you can do is as good as what they would be willing to pay you to do.

You won't see adds in the paper or on line asking for designers to apply, they will look for guys they know, and more importantly those who show some real initiative, on top of being qualified and doggedly pasionate about what you want to do.

 

For both! I mean this
http://www.boatdesign.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/20202/ppuser/1473

 

I'm a BS.NAME student 5th year i'm about to graduate next year. And i have no idea about yachts. Because our profs just taught us about merchant ships. Because they are NA who are specialized in merchant ships unlike me i want to go abroad and be a yacht designer. And i found this awesome forum. This forum helped me a lot. I know autocad (as well as making 3d with it) and maxurf. And i want to thank you guys about what you have shared. It boost my interest about ships. Damn really i'm excited to be an engr ...