Principles vs. Elements

Hey guys,
A good friend of mine has asked for a book suggestion on Naval Architecture. He asked about Principles of Yacht Design, and Elements of Yacht Design, basically looking for which one I suggested over the other.

To be honest I've never read Elements of Yacht Design, but I have Principles of Yacht Design and offered to loan it to him.

Which of the two would you suggest to a buddy just getting interested in NA? Or even one not mentioned..?

 

If you can find a copy of "The Common Sense of Yacht Design" it is a great read and has more overall information than any other book I know of.

 

They aren't comparable books with each other. While Principles is a "explanation" of modern design and ISO standards the Elements descibes more traditional methods and the math of the formulas today included in NA software, it's also good reference book for traditional boat parts, masts and spars..
BR Teddy

 

Both!

-Tom

 

It is it naval architecture, per se, rather than focusing on just yacht design I can recommend:

Principles of Naval Architecture
and
Basic Ship Theory

These are naval architecture books and cover all disciplines (war ships, tankers, yachts etc), albeit glossed over rather than focused purely on all aspects of yachts, like Teddy mentions. For yachts, I can also recommend any book by Marchaj.

It is also worth asking your friend, is there any discipline, or field of naval architecture s/he wishes to focus upon?

 

Elements of Yacht Design by Kinney is a good book although out of date (I believe it was written in the 1960's). Still lots of very useful info in there and it's easy to read. It is however long out of print. I'd recommend checking it out if you can find it.

The Elements of Yacht Design by Norman Skene is being reprinted. However, I wouldn't recommend it. It's difficult to read. It's more of an engineering manual using old techniques not really used anymore.

The principles of yacht design is a good book kind of between the two. More engineering than Kinney and easier to read and with more styling/usefulness info than Skene. And of course it is much newer than either.

Principles of Naval Architecture is jam packed full of naval architecture info but it is definitely not for a beginner. It's a mini-encyclopedia of naval architecture. Where would you start reading? I preferred Introduction to Naval Architecture by Gillmer when I was starting out.

What is your friend looking for? Do they want to know what the field of naval architecture is all about so they can make a career/education decision? Are they a yachtsman looking to learn more about the science and engineering behind their sport so they can get more out of their boat? Are they already a naval architecture student who needs help with a particular topic? Depending on your needs and wishes a completely different book could be recommended.

 

If I recall right Kinney made several revisions and he started with a revision of the original Skene's Element's so the Kinney's have a quite wide range of content from the first to the last published..

 

I have both Principles of Yacht Design, 3rd edtition 2007, by Larsson/Eliasson, and Skene's Elements of Yacht Design, 8th edition 1973 by Francis Kinney. When I need to look up something, I always go to Skene's first (probably since I cut my teeth in yacht design--after my naval architecture degree--on that book--maybe I am more used to it.) That edition of Skene's is by far the best. Earlier versions, even by Norm Skene, are not nearly as complete as Kinney's 8th edition. I believe there was one other edition printed later, in the early 1980s, but it was a bad print job--some chapters got bound upside down. Kinney covers a wide variety of designs, both power and sail. Larsson/Eliasson covers only sailing yachts.

Another very good book about fiberglass boat construction is "Fiberglass Boat Design and Construction" by Robert Scott, available through the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. It is a little dated in that it addresses only the use of mat and woven roving, which are still used these days, but it does not include properties of newer materials. Still, the fundamental basics are there for first principles engineeering for both planing powerboats and displacement boats, and if you can understand that book, you can understand composites and composite boat building in general.

From the library of...

Eric

 

It's always difficult starting anyone because you do not know what they know and understand. It took a friend of mine 5 seconds to calculate that one of my contraptions would sink to the bottom since the water in the boat if it fills up would weigh a lot more than the flotation I added...

No, I'm not giving him any books

 

Naval Architecture for Non-Naval Architects-Harry Benford. Available from SNAME if he is just interested but not committed.