the journey of boat design

[Sailing devils]

Im starting a project of designing, a large, fast, cost effective keel boat that is possible, I want all the advice you guys are wiling to give including software to draw, design, and build in (not too expensive) as well as any physics or mathematical things to pay attention to.

I am looking forward to this journey, please help me.

 

[BlueBell]

Go out on a large, fast, cost effective keel boat that is possible and report back to us.
We'll go from there.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[bajansailor]

+1 re Bluebell's welcome above, and the advice he has given you.

Have you written up a detailed Statement of Requirements yet for the boat that you want to design?
If you have not yet done so, you need to do this first - or second rather, after first going out on a 'large, fast, cost effective keel boat' (if you can find one - this might be a mythical creature).
There must be other keel boats that you like / are inspired by re the design that you want to draw up - do you have any photos that you can post of vessels that you fancy, and which you might like to use as a basis for your design?
Be aware that you do not have to try to re-invent the proverbial wheel with your design - all boat designs are invariably slow developments / refinements (hopefully! ) of other existing designs.
So you could maybe start off by telling the Forum what sort of keel boat you would like to design, the size, type, rig, construction material, racer or cruiser - this would be the start of your SOR.
And then when you have added as much detail as possible to your SOR (including one of the most important items - the budget available), you can post a copy of it on here as well.

 

[bajansailor]

I want all the advice you guys are wiling to give including software to draw, design, and build in (not too expensive) as well as any physics or mathematical things to pay attention to.

Just a thought, re the line above - there are many different drawing programmes available now.
However if I were you, I would start off with some traditional sketches on paper - have a go at it, and see what you come up with.
They don't have to be fancy works of art - most boat designs start off with a sketch on a napkin during a conversation, or even on the back of the proverbial cigarette packet.
Although I am a bit worried by this where you say "any physics or mathematical things to pay attention to".
The most fundamental thing you need to know is how to calculate the buoyancy available in the hull that you design, so that you can check to see if there is enough buoyancy to support the weight of the boat.
And you also have to do a long tedious weight calculation to estimate what the weight of the boat - and see how this compares with your buoyancy calculation.
But you also mention this 'not too expensive'....... if you are thinking that you can 'save' money by designing the boat yourself, ban this idea from your mind now!
If you are not already familiar with buoyancy and hydrostatics (have you heard about a bloke called Archimedes?) then your best bet would be to simply buy a set of plans 'off the shelf' from a reputable designer for a boat that you like.
This will be much less expensive in the long run than trying to design it yourself.

 

[BlueBell]

This will be much less expensive in the long run than trying to design it yourself.

So true BajanSailor but the OP wants to do it themselves.
However, they underestimate what it takes and how hard it is.
But they'll often find that out the hard way instead of listening to years of experience here on the Forum,
Usually, there's nothing that can be done.
They won't listen and simply don't understand the complexity of what they're getting involved with.
Or how an existing, proven design could yield much better results, faster.
It's kind of sad in a way, but it's reality.
So, nice try attempting to steer the OP straight but I'm afraid it's no use.
Give them a few years, or decades, severe financial loss and emotional loss.
Divorce, depression, total loss of motivation and eventual abandonment of their
lost cost investment. Good try BajanSailor.
And good luck on your journey SD.
Godspeed.

 

[wet feet]

In addition to the final sentence of bajansailor's post,I would add that building to a known design gives you some chance of recouping some of the money you will have to pour into the project.the chances of a novice designer creating something so good that he is offered a good sum for it by an eager buyer are pretty slim.

 

[tpenfield]

If I were going to design a large, fast, cost effective sailboat . . . I'd probably be considering a hard chine planing hull or a multi-hull.

How large is large (to you?)
Cost effective ? To build, or to own? or both?

Lighter weight would be fast, so think about structural aspects that would be more strong than heavy.
If you 'Do it right, do it once', you want to consider foam core construction.

Bulb or wing weighted keel if a monohull. Retractable might be a cool thing.

Software? I use Sketchup (Trimble) for stuff, but there is probably better software for boat design.

 

[Sailing devils]

Thank you everyone for your advice, I’m definitely going to take more of a look into what I want and my goals. I aprreciate the warnings. Maybe I will update this once I gain the knowledge of what I want to do.

Thank you bluebell for the hard advice I needed.

 

[BlueBell]

Thank you bluebell for the hard advice I needed.

Good attitude.

Did you find a "large, fast, cost effective keel boat that is possible" yet?

 

[Sailing devils]

The Pearson 30 has stood out to me, and it’s the most do able design.

 

[TANSL]

The first thing you should do is confirm whether you want to design a boat, with or without the help of this wise forum, or if you want to copy an existing design. That would save you a lot of responses that, as we can see, aren't intended to respond to your initial request. In either case, you should start by making a list of the features and wonders you want your boat to have, materials, construction process, etc., and draw, even freehand, a general arrangement plan to verify that there's enough space to house all the things—equipment, personnel, and animals—that must go on board.
Later, we'll talk about Archimedes (although I don't know how meeting that man will help you) and how to calculate everything needed.
Good luck.

 

[BlueBell]

The Pearson 30 has stood out to me, and it’s the most do able design.

Fantastic. Buy one and sail it for a year to see if you like it, then build one yourself and sell the original.
But don't sell the first until your new one is built so you can keep sailing.
The overlap should be seamless.


( Chances are, you'll never build the second one and never need to sell the first one. You'll just keep sailing with zero build time. )

 

[bajansailor]

There are two Pearson 30's for sale in the link below.
One is just 'up the road' from you, in Michigan, and she has an asking price of US$ 8,500 - and from the photos posted, she appears to be in pretty reasonable condition.
The other one is in Massachusetts, with an asking price of US$ 10,000.
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats-for-sale/make-pearson/model-30/

OK, your sailing season is pretty much over now until next year - but you could buy a boat 'off the shelf' and ready to go for not a lot of money when spring arrives next year.
In contrast, if you design and build a 30' keelboat, you can probably expect to invest a few (or four, or five, or more) years of your life in the project, along with a materials cost of at least 10 times the asking prices of the boats in the link above.
As many on here would say, it is a 'no brainer'.

 

[BlueBell]

Such sensibility Bsailor !!

 

[montero]

@bajansailor
Of course, it's hard to beat these bang-for-the-buck offers. But the reason I started building boats was because I couldn't find one that met my expectations. They were all too heavy and hydrodynamically unsound.
Currently, I want to build a 10m trailerable powercat and car roof jon boat that can maybe can be used as a cat tender (not sure).
No, you can't buy it because such boats don't exist.
For now, I've bought a suitable roof for a car roof jon boat.