Hi all,

After building a simple plywood dinghy to test my capabilities, I now feel
confident to go on and realise an old dream: To build my own sail boat. It's
going to be trailer-able and around 15-16 feet. With centerboard and a
little cabin with sleeping capabilities for two and a half.

I have searched the net, read a lot, and found many nice designs in this
category. But then I realised... Why not take it one step further and make
the design my self?

I have Googled some more, and found Carlson Designs "Hulls" program and
started playing with it. Fantastic that you can get such a program for free!

But I know, that designing a Hull is one thing. Designing a seaworthy and
yet beautiful hull is another. And then designing centerboard, rudder, rigg,
cabin, deck and so on is another thing. How do I know that the sails will
not tear it all apart in the first breeze? How do I ensure that the sailing
capabilities will be Ok?

For this I am now asking here for any good advice, books, web pages etc.
which can help me. I have no particular time-frame, and I will rather do
this good, than ending up with a useless boat after spending thousinds of
hours in the shed building it.

Best regards,
Thomas

You're welcome to look at the design process for Solo15 on my website
under "Boats" (address below). It describes how I used two free hull
design programs (Carlson and Blue Peter) and compared the numbers to lists
of boats in books. The Solo15 was an exercise to demonstrate on the
Internet how amateurs like myself might go about designing a small boat.
The design is incomplete and will not likely be built. I'd advise reading
a lot of books on boat design from the public library. Chosing the shape
is just part of it, there's chosing the right strength and weight of
materials, getting the weight distribution and sail balance right, etc.

For a combination of inspiration and practical information for small boats I
like the two books by designer/builder TF Jones.

You might be interested in looking at amateurn boat desing competitions.
There's one a year at www.duckworksmagazine.com. I think only the most
recent one is avaiable for viewing without paying a membership fee to login.

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Hi William,

Thank you for your nice and long reply. I have been looking at your web
page, and found a lot of usefuld information. I will see if I can find the
"Blue Peter" program also. I think it is a good idea to build models in
plywood. I was thinking of building them in paper, but ofcourse thin plywood
will give a better "feel" of the real thing.

I will study your web page more, and probably return with more questions...
It is specially the weight- and strength distribution that concerns me.

Fortunately we do not have the same regulations in Sweden to toilets as you
have in Canada. But IF there is a toilet, it must have a tank to hold the
waste.

Best regards,
Thomas


"William R. Watt" skrev i meddelandet
...

You're welcome to look at the design process for Solo15 on my website
under "Boats" (address below). It describes how I used two free hull
design programs (Carlson and Blue Peter) and compared the numbers to lists
of boats in books. The Solo15 was an exercise to demonstrate on the
Internet how amateurs like myself might go about designing a small boat.
The design is incomplete and will not likely be built. I'd advise reading
a lot of books on boat design from the public library. Chosing the shape
is just part of it, there's chosing the right strength and weight of
materials, getting the weight distribution and sail balance right, etc.

For a combination of inspiration and practical information for small boats
I
like the two books by designer/builder TF Jones.

You might be interested in looking at amateurn boat desing competitions.
There's one a year at www.duckworksmagazine.com. I think only the most
recent one is avaiable for viewing without paying a membership fee to
login.

--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community
network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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I think you'll like using thin plywood for building a model better than
other materials. I've tried things like paper, plastic, thin cardboard
....nope, ply is better. I use model aircraft plywood from the local hobby
shop. It bends realistically and you can cut it with scissors.

Brian D



"Thomas Veber" wrote in message
...
Hi William,

Thank you for your nice and long reply. I have been looking at your web
page, and found a lot of usefuld information. I will see if I can find the
"Blue Peter" program also. I think it is a good idea to build models in
plywood. I was thinking of building them in paper, but ofcourse thin
plywood will give a better "feel" of the real thing.

I will study your web page more, and probably return with more
questions... It is specially the weight- and strength distribution that
concerns me.

Fortunately we do not have the same regulations in Sweden to toilets as
you have in Canada. But IF there is a toilet, it must have a tank to hold
the waste.

Best regards,
Thomas


"William R. Watt" skrev i meddelandet
...

You're welcome to look at the design process for Solo15 on my website
under "Boats" (address below). It describes how I used two free hull
design programs (Carlson and Blue Peter) and compared the numbers to
lists
of boats in books. The Solo15 was an exercise to demonstrate on the
Internet how amateurs like myself might go about designing a small boat.
The design is incomplete and will not likely be built. I'd advise reading
a lot of books on boat design from the public library. Chosing the shape
is just part of it, there's chosing the right strength and weight of
materials, getting the weight distribution and sail balance right, etc.

For a combination of inspiration and practical information for small
boats I
like the two books by designer/builder TF Jones.

You might be interested in looking at amateurn boat desing competitions.
There's one a year at www.duckworksmagazine.com. I think only the most
recent one is avaiable for viewing without paying a membership fee to
login.

--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community
network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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returned

B.rian D write

"I think you'll like using thin plywood for building a model better
than
other materials. "

Exactly aero ply is another name for it ,it come 0,4 mm. and 0,8 mm as
thin almost as paper but increadible strong it is usealy 3 layers but
need to be prepared with thin epoxy if you plan to sail it as the glue
can be water solvent anyway steaming it can make it delaminate so make
tests before you start experiment with this great stuff.

P.C.

Hi William,

I have been wondering... Wouldn't it, from a forces point of view, be a good
idea to put the mast on one of the bulkheads?

/Thomas


"William R. Watt" skrev i meddelandet
...

You're welcome to look at the design process for Solo15 on my website
under "Boats" (address below). It describes how I used two free hull
design programs (Carlson and Blue Peter) and compared the numbers to lists
of boats in books. The Solo15 was an exercise to demonstrate on the
Internet how amateurs like myself might go about designing a small boat.
The design is incomplete and will not likely be built. I'd advise reading
a lot of books on boat design from the public library. Chosing the shape
is just part of it, there's chosing the right strength and weight of
materials, getting the weight distribution and sail balance right, etc.

For a combination of inspiration and practical information for small boats
I
like the two books by designer/builder TF Jones.

You might be interested in looking at amateurn boat desing competitions.
There's one a year at www.duckworksmagazine.com. I think only the most
recent one is avaiable for viewing without paying a membership fee to
login.

--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community
network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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"Thomas Veber" ) writes:
Hi William,

I have been wondering... Wouldn't it, from a forces point of view, be a good
idea to put the mast on one of the bulkheads?

/Thomas

I've located the unstayed mast in a raised tabernacle at the front of the
cabin wall (this cabin looks much like raised the cabin on a New England
catboat) intending it and the cabin to be supported on the same framing,
with the sideways stress being carried by the cabin wall and framing to
the gunwales and chines. It's not entirely an untested idea. You might
want to look at the way the mast is stepped in the removable partners on
the Dogskiff boat on my website. That arrangement has worked fine. If the
arrangement on the Solo15 caused any problems a hole could be cut in the
deck and the mast stepped on the cabin sole in the more traditional
manner. It's always good to have a backup plan.

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People should keep in minmd that sailboats don't sail flat, they sail
heeled over (mostly about 15 degrees), hence flat bottom sailboats sail on
their chines and are therefore really V-bottom boats. In addition Phil
Bolger recommends flat bottom boats have their bow fore-and-aft deadrise
angle equal to their bow half angle, which I finally realized gives them a
pretty symetrical entrance and also somewhat less weather helm than boats
with less deadrise.

When I raced club dingys we sat out and sailed them flat because they were
designed to be sailed flat and could, on occasion, be made to plane. When
the wind picks up a flat bottom boat might also plane (especially the lake
scows which are desinged to do so) but in normal winds I believe they
should be sailed heeled over. That's why I sail my small flat bottom boats
more comfortably, sitting in the center on the bottom on a cushion facing
forward. None of this scrambling from side to side with each tack and
sitting out over the gunwale in every gust.

I also paddle small home made flat bottom boats in which I am more
sensitive to resistance and can feel the difference when I heel the boats
over solo canoe style. They move in a straighter line with less effort
when heeled and moving along on the chine, again, V-bottom when heeled.

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Thomas Veber wrote:
Hi all,

After building a simple plywood dinghy to test my capabilities, I now
feel
confident to go on and realise an old dream: To build my own sail
boat. It's
going to be trailer-able and around 15-16 feet. With centerboard and
a
little cabin with sleeping capabilities for two and a half.

I have searched the net, read a lot, and found many nice designs in
this
category. But then I realised... Why not take it one step further and
make
the design my self?

I have Googled some more, and found Carlson Designs "Hulls" program
and
started playing with it. Fantastic that you can get such a program
for free!

But I know, that designing a Hull is one thing. Designing a seaworthy
and
yet beautiful hull is another. And then designing centerboard,
rudder, rigg,
cabin, deck and so on is another thing. How do I know that the sails
will
not tear it all apart in the first breeze? How do I ensure that the
sailing
capabilities will be Ok?

For this I am now asking here for any good advice, books, web pages
etc.
which can help me. I have no particular time-frame, and I will rather
do
this good, than ending up with a useless boat after spending
thousinds of
hours in the shed building it.

Best regards,
Thomas

Sure, do it, but not alone. I designed my own 20 footer a year or so
back, and even though I have built a few dozen SmallBoats in the last
few years, I brought in a professional designer for the 20 footer. He
went over the numbers and made a couple of reccomendations to adjust
the shape of the bow, cockpit placement and design... etc...
Just a suggestion, Scotty

"wtf" skrev i meddelandet
ps.com...

few years, I brought in a professional designer for the 20 footer. He
went over the numbers and made a couple of reccomendations to adjust
the shape of the bow, cockpit placement and design... etc...

I have actually been considering this myself: Do the basic design myself.
Then have all the "lads" down the harbour take a look at it (it is
incredibly how many ideas people down the harbour have when it comes to
other peoples boats :-). And then have a professional designer look over it.
I think that those money are well spent.

Do you have any more information about your 20 footer. It would be nice e.g.
to see some photos or hear something about the thoughts in the
design/building progress. E.g. how long time it took, what it cost, etc.

Best regards,
Thomas