Is rhino still the way to go for a hobbyist?

Hello once again, fellas. I’ve been using DelftShip to try designing a hull, dreaming a bit, but it’s too clunky and the free version is too limited. So what’s the most suitable and cost-effective software for a hobbyist like me to design a sailboat?

 

Depends on what you want to get out of the work/time put into the drawing. Offsets, renders, calculations, etc...

From a price and learning standpoint you can't beat a board, square, triangles, rule, and splines. If you don't need millimeter precision (especially at the intersection of two curved surfaces) there are some free to use software on the net, and all come with differing advantages, limitations, and learning curves.

 

I already have a hull shape I’m happy with, but I’m not sure about its submerged area shape under heel. I guess I need some calculations — I definitely don’t care about renders. Also, since English isn’t my first language, I’m not sure I fully understand what you mean by ‘offsets.’

As for the board, squares, triangles, ruler, and splines — that’s a bit too obsolete for my taste. I grew up with computers, so the software approach feels much more natural to me.

 

The offsets are what you need to do the calculations....the number and distance between stations and waterlines, width to the outside of the planking at all the stations and waterlines, digonals, etc... Some software does this for you, some doesn't...and those that do this development for you do so with various quirks and flaws.

Lofting – Drawing the Body Plan from a Table of Offsets – Steve Reynolds blog https://www.stevereynoldsinstruments.com/blog/?p=922

 

Since you already have a hull what you need to do is to pull the existing offsets. Try this resource.

Boats: A Manual for Their Documentation FREE e-Book https://schoonerchandlery.com/shop/misc-2/schooner-chandlery-picks/free-e-book-boats-a-manual-for-their-documentation/

 

Isn’t it a bit too old? The year 1993 seems pretty ancient in our rapidly developing software era.

 

And therefore you shoud not be speaking Thai and doing math. The language and math was developed by people long ago who knew nothing about computers and by your logic make it irrelevant today. (roll-eyes). A computer is just a tool, and like a power saw to a hand saw neither better or worse, just different.

 

Then why learn an obsolete tool while you can learn a modern one?
Would you pick a hand drill before power drill to do a thousand holes?

 

To answer the question/title of the thread, and as an user of Rhino back in university, now on work, extensive in my free-time:

YES

and definitevely yes when you already have a hull as Rhino might not always be the best for hull modeling

 

Big thanks

 

This is what makes you a hobbiest and not an experienced professional.

 

Precisely

 

In my yacht design classes, we got the hulls as IGES or similar files from Maxsurf or Delftship and 'finished' them in Rhino3D, adding the final bow, decks, house,cockpit, and transom. We were graded on how the 3D boat matched the supplied 2D views and if the CAD was 'watertight', surfaces properly formed and trimmed together. The results were not enough to build a boat but enough to render one.

I have 'designed' (enought to render) a bigger boat in Fusion(360) using the table of offsets from its 1940's blueprint, similar to the fishing boat in my avatar.
@pafurijaz here on the forum has done many designs in many different softwares.
Rhino3D is very nice for surfaces and is pretty powerful out of the box for file import and export.

Is the hull shown in post #1 the hull that needs to get back into the computer for analysis? Was it started/ever in a a computer?
If not, taking offsets manually via older methods and running those numbers back into Maxsurf, Delftship, Carlson, etc. might get the hull back to being able to be subject to analysis.

 

I would never pick a power tool over a hand tool simply because it is a power tool; I would choose the right tool for the job. I think the problem is that you belive that all computer program algortihms are the same and correct simply because they are from a computer; where I know that this is incorrect. The descretation required for digital solutions cannot exactly model a continious hull shape....it can be good enough, it can be close, but it will never be exact.... and you need to use many different programs until you find the one that suits your needs. RHINO is a great surface modeler, however it needs extensive pre-processing to enter a table of offsets and some plug-ins or post-processing to generate hull offsets and hydrostatics (depending on which version you have). If you have an existing hull, it is better and faster to take the lines off and calculate by hand/spreadsheet than it is to try and torture RHINO into getting it correct. Or if you whish to be professional, spend the money and use photogrammetry.

 

No, the picture in the first post is just a photo of Kaori 6.50 by a builder I've been following on LinkedIn.
My hull is similar though, I'm trying to design a fully flat panel constructed hull with the minimum amount of chines. Kind of got pissed off with IMER class so much that decided to try and design a boat myself to those parameters.