Designer and Client - Eight Boat Design Commissions, from Kayak to Cruiser
by Dias, Antonio
pub. by Wooden Boat Pub., Brooklin, Maine, USA (c) 1998 - isbn 0-937822-51-5 many diagrams - plan cartoons etc. 149 p.
Boat designer Antonio Dias discusses the development of 8 different boats with special interest in the nature and type of communication between him as designer and the clients who hired him to design these specific boats.
Each of the clients in these cases are very knowledgeable about boats and each has specific requests. As the design develops there is significant interplay as the reality of the design comes into being. There is some discussion on how computer aided design ( CAD ) comes into play and where older more traditional methods are used. Each of the boats in this collection is designed to be built of wood. This is a very interesting book. It would greatly help if one had some pre-knowledge of hull shape terms to understand what is being discussed. The book does not have a glossary.
2 - 23 ft.Indian Header
for Peter Chesworth
The larger coastal cruiser went through many iterations The resulting boat has a very traditional long keel, gaff mainsail, jib and staysail.
The general concept was also theoretically expanded to a 40 ft schooner as an exercise.
The project also included designing a tender an 11 ft double ended peapod with a high peaked sprit sail main and a jib. The daggerboard is interesting.
3 - 40 ft. Cruising Cutter
for John and Dee Deegan
The client was on a long distance cruise in the Pacific Ocean during the design of this boat.
What was wanted is a large comfortable boat with, for its length, rather shallow draft.
It was designed with a modern marconi rig, short bowsprit, a jib and staysail. There was much
discussion on getting lateral resistance in a shallow hull. Centerboards and daggerboards were
discussed with the eventual design showing a daggerboard. Board up draft 4.5 ft. Board down 8 ft.
4 - Navy Point
for Jeff Halpern
The client wants a boat which can do everything, race and cruise.
This is the most developed and re-developed boat in this series. The client is of a modern bent and prefers using as much modern technology and materials development as possible, including some carbon fiber and some active water ballast to trim. A heavy bulb on the end of a daggerboard is discussed. The design is a long term project and was unresolved at the printing of this book. Last working design shows a Length over all (LOA) of 44 ft., Beam 13.5 ft, Draft board up 5.5 ft, Board down 8 ft. The rig is of course marconi with a single jib. Amazing to me is that the displacement is calculated at only 13500 lbs.
5 - Castle Hill
for Peter and Eileen Spectre
The first boat design in this chapter is a yard skiff, a small boat to be primarily used to do work on the outside of the hulls of other boats.
This resulted in a stoutly built little boat, sort of a sampan in hull type 10 ft. long
The second design was for a motorboat cruiser which developed into a motorsailer.
The client wanted a shallow draft live-aboard which would include an office and be operated largely in the intercoastal waterway between New England and Florida. The resulting design is a boat about 33.5 ft long, Beam of 11 ft. 4 in., and a draft of 2 ft. 9 in. It has 2 short masts which can fold down.
6 - 17 ft. Cruising Kayak
for Mike O'Brien
The client wanted a single seat custom cruising kayak with no frills.
Customer did not want bulkheads or hatches which often cause trapped water and eventual rot. His experience is that all hatches leak, no matter what the hatch maker says. Originally the idea was to keep hull length under 16 ft. The eventual hull length was 17 ft. - beam 1 ft. 11.5 in. - draft 4 in. -
- There is an alternative design with hull length was 17 ft. - beam 2 ft. 2.5 in. - draft 3.75 in.
Dias heartily recommends a painted hull vs. one left bright (varnished or clear) because finish would need to be better... paint shows shape and irriegularities while woodgrain hides them.
7 - Southern Waters
for Bill Page
Cruising sailboat - centerboard with gaff rig main, long bowsprit and jib.
Length 28.5 ft., beam 8.5 ft., Board up draft 2.5 ft. Board down 5 ft. 9.5 inches.
8 - The Double Headsail Sloop
for Gordon and Doris Swift
A traditional long keel on a cruising sailboat. Marconi rig main. Staysail is self tending with a club. Jib flys high on the end of a bowsprit.
Length 28 ft. 9 in, beam 10 ft., draft 4 ft.
EPILOGUE
Among other things Dias is not a friend of the use of slab plywood.
Author list with LINKS to description of each book
Subject list with LINKS to description of each book
Fiction Author list with LINKS to description of each book
Non-Fiction Title list with LINKS to description of each book
to Books index page.
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