Morgan Ohlson writes:
The formulas are the same, as well as the process itself. A seaworthy dinghy
may also be slow, but both aspects apply, but in different perspektives.

So, basicly a good handbook on design should deal with different goals.
Isn't that the essence of design?

AFAIK, yes. To make sure I get what you're saying, you want to know how
to derive the basic proportions of a small sailboat to get the result of
a boat with the performance characteristics you want. That certainly
sounds like the essence of design.

Unfortunately, it's a fairly involved process if you're starting from a
blank piece of paper. It's much easier (and much more common) to start
wiht a boat that behaves approximately the way you want, and then change
a few things about it to make it closer to your ideal. With some fairly
elementary design & engineering knowledge, you can do this and quantify
the expected results.


I'm not looking for instant plans.

Good- although IMHO the "instant boats" offer a wide range of
capabilities with a substantial benefit of easy building.


William R. Watt wrote:
the design of a racing dingy is quite a lot different from the design of
a cruising dingy which differs again from the design of a pleasure sailing
dingy.

Actually, they're all the same process. The only difference is applying
different priorities to obtain different results.


... I have not come across anything which covers all three.

The best text IMHO is Lars & Eliasson 'Principles of Sailing Yacht
Design' although the example given is a keelboat. They do explain all
the principles so that it is very easy to infer how to manipulate teh
specs of a boat being designed toward a desired goal.


racing dingy's are lightwight, uncomforatable, and festooned with
expensive "gofasts".

Baloney. Racing dinghies are dinghies that are raced. Is a Flying Scot
lightweight or uncomfortable?

If you're talking about comparing strictly by performance type rather
than usage, then you're still way wrong. A *fast* dinghy has a high sail
are -to- weight ratio, a high righting moment -to- weight ratio, and
usually rather flattish aft sections.

You cannot bolt on "gofast." You can design & build a rig to be
controllable & highly adjustable, and put on rigging to accomplish same.
It need not be expensive or complex. OTOH many "cruising" oriented boats
(not just dinghies) are unnecessarily difficult to handle because the
rigs are cumbersome in an attempt to be "strong" and they have
sacrificed too much controllability.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King