Yacht design self study

[Damian3716]

Hi guys. I am interested in yacht design and would love to study the subject. However, for various reasons, I can't commit to a residential course and the distance learning route is a little in excess of my current budget. I am 36 and have a family and work full time. Bit I've always regretted taking the decision not to go to university to study naval architecture when I was young. Can anybody o offer advice on self- taking yacht design. How would you suggest I should go about this?
Thank you on advance for your help.

 

[Ike]

Start by reading:

The Nature of Boats: By Dave Gerr (a really good overview of the issues in designing a boat)
Skene's Elements of Yacht Design: (A little dated by excellent book on yacht design)
Principles of Yacht Design: by Larsson and Eliasson (the most up to date book on the subject)

You can buy these on line or at most book storesz;

After you have gotten a good look at what is involved then you will know whether you want to pursue this. Plus it will allow you to ask intelligent questions on the subject.

 

[Petros]

what is your motivation? You want to change careers? Or it is just an interest of yours?

The reason is important, because changing careers will be tough on you, there is not exactly a big demand for navel architects that do yacht design. Most of them, even well established ones, often have other jobs they do to support themselves when work is slow. You will also have to be willing to move to find work, and your first salierd job, if you can find one, will likely be working for a large commercial boat yard doing large steel hulls. That is where the demand is, if there is any at all.

If you love the idea of yacht design you can study is as a hobby, and perhaps design a small sailboat you can built yourself to get some hands on experiance and get a better feel for design vs. reality. Either way, there is not a lot of income to be earned designing or building small boats.

 

[jpb]

You can find a list of recommended books and other information on the website http://yacht-design-student.com/