Modern Sailing Boat Design

With you all the way Marshmat (hope that's some comfort). But on a slight tangent - look at today's breed of racing car. Can you tell one from the other ? I'm old enough to rember the Mercedes, Jaguars, MGs, Vanwalls, Bugattis, et al... and by God they looked like racing cars. But each beautifully different, even down the sound of the exhaust.
But your modern 'racing' yacht... well if it wasn't for the advertising logos on the hull I'd be lost - and to quote aptly from 'Gone with the Wind',
Frankly my dear, I couldn't give a damn...

 

I like the direction of fadgadget in the Design Verification thread: http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9319

Imagine an Etchells 22 (LOA 30', LWL 22') scaled to about twice the size with a canting keel. It could be quite a boat. Apealling designs in that category exist, such as are the Van deStadt designs I've referenced in that other thread, the W-class yachts from Brooklyn Boat Yard, and the lightweight but traditional boats being built by a Swedish fella in Scotland. I think a giant Etchells 22 would have them beat, though.

One of the most beautiful boats I've ever seen is the schooner yacht America semi-replica by Scarano (but I may be biased by the fact that the designer/builder is here in New York State).
http://www.scaranoboat.com/Sail-America.html
I also like Scarano's canoe Island Sloops
http://www.scaranoboat.com/Sail-Canoe_Island_Sloops.html
With the latter Scarano has succeeded in designing a boat with a long waterline that is also handsome in a traditional way. If you want performance, build it out of carbon and add a canting keel...

On pure aesthetics Fife has yet to be beat!

 

A thought on canting keels: seaworthyness counts. The setup on Skandia/Wild Thing relied entirely on a single hydraulic cylinder. No good. I think there should be a worm gear involved that can be operated manually should the hydraulics (or elecric actuator) fail. If that can't be done, one could at least make a couple of big deadbolts from propeller shafts that could be slid into position if needed to lock the keel in place.

Watertight bulkheads fore & aft of the keel would also not be a bad idea.

 

As a perspective customer, I don’t care about individual design.
I want to get a boat for a low price and with good performance.
If indeed the hull shape is optimized, than I can also assume the boat will satisfy my requirements for the next 20 years. When I sell the boat thereafter, I still get a fair value as a classic boat design. Do I?
If this is the case, maybe we are entering a new Folkeboat era.

Hans, I can't open the link to the Opium 39.