Picking a Design

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Zilant, Mar 9, 2016.

  1. Zilant
    Joined: Mar 2016
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    Location: Greece

    Zilant New Member

    I'm not sure if this is a thread for the construction section or this one...

    I have started reading stuff on boat building and I want to start learning about it with a more hands on approach. I'm already good with tools and woodworking.

    I'm thinking of starting to build one right away. Yet at this point I'm not experienced enough to chose a reliable design that also I can use after building.

    After some searching I decided to buy the plans for this one (since I've also found it slightly easier to build compared to one's similar in size)

    http://www.woodenboat.com/boat-plans-kits/volare-utility

    Should I just start building with the design I've found or are there any suggestions for common and reliable designs to start boat building with?
     
  2. gonzo
    Joined: Aug 2002
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    gonzo Senior Member

    The narrow bottom will make the boat rather tender (easy to tip over). Otherwise, it is not remarkable. Where are you planning on using the boat, and how many people on board?
     
  3. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    This is appears to be a Bolger Diablo knock off, with a weird forefoot, that looks too deep. Andrew Walters seems nice enough, but hasn't any real experience with yacht design. He's using "SketchUp" as his CAD tool, which is a big "tell" and the particular design you like is overly complex and heavy, for what it is. Look at: bandbyachtdesigns.com, glen-l.com and bateau.com for other designs.
     
  4. Skyak
    Joined: Jul 2012
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    Skyak Senior Member

    It would help greatly to know your plan for power, where you would use it, and what your expectations are for speed/efficiency. Low power in flat water would allow you to build a super simple hull. Speed and waves bring handling considerations.
     
  5. Barry
    Joined: Mar 2002
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    Barry Senior Member

    As Gonzo stated, the planing surface is extremely narrow, ie the flat part at the bottom of the hull.
    A simple look at small boats such as this will reveal that there are none, or almost no successful boats with such a narrow width for planing.
    In a small boat with limited hp, the wider the hull is at the chines, the easier it will plane .
     
  6. Mr Efficiency
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Looks very "tippy" to me !
     

  7. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Underway the Diablo was pretty stable, but yeah, it wasn't a very comfortable platform at rest. I suspect the same from this boat. If you look at the drawings, it's an overly complex thing, given it's just a 15' boat and at 400+ pounds, this complexity adds up. I don't think any 15' boat should be that complex.
     
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