Trans RINA, Vol 154, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jan - Jun 2012 PRACTICAL SMALL CRAFT DESIGN: COMBINING ART WITH SCIENCE


A Nazarov, Albatross Marine Design, Thailand (DOI No: 10.3940/rina.ijmd.2012.c1.13) SUMMARY


This paper presents a retrospective of problems involved in small craft design and styling, following design philosophy and solutions from a practicing boat design office. The approach to design as ‘solution of particular task’ is presented. Design is studied as compromise of five qualities: aesthetics, comfort, performance, safety and cost. Contemporary trends in boat styling are analyzed, architectural types of boats and yachts are defined. Influence of rules of classification societies and standards on design is discussed. Comparison of safety and comfort considerations and their effect on design are presented for two boats of similar size. Sample designs are presented as illustrations covering pleasure, small commercial and special craft.


‘It is fairly easy to discover just what a man admires and loves, for to ask him is to know; but to understand the Ocean’s likes and dislikes is far harder’ Uffa Fox ‘Sailing, Seamanship and yacht Construction’, 1936.


1. INTRODUCTION


Growing competition on small craft market stimulates development of new boat models. Every year designers create thousands of innovative and


break-through


concepts; but only a small percent of them develop into reality and only few of them become successful boat models.


Thirty years ago boats were designed solely by


specialized boat designers or naval architects. But during recent years there is a strong ‘invasion’ of industrial designers into pleasure craft design, supported by ease of creating shapes and presentation images with use of software. This


trend definitely encourages new


approaches and brings fresh thought into conservative trade, but on the other side such cooperation with non- marine designers requires proper teamwork and their ability to understand basic boat design limitations and principles.


Unfortunately, sometimes newcomers in marine design do not see the whole scope of problems involved and are creating appearance beyond the practicality. Being fixed in a customers’ mind some ideas are then strongly pushed and transferred into engineering and production, and often end up unpractical and unsafe when it comes to a real craft.


The present paper is intended to support non-marine designers making attempts in boat design as a systematized review of major problems involved in combining aesthetical features with functionality of small pleasure craft. It can also be useful for boat design professionals for better understanding challenges of multi-disciplinary cooperation and checkpoints during the design process.


In today’s boat design there is more and more


specialization that requires involvement of different specialists (or a combination of those skills in one individual). There are several


involved in yacht design, so it is important to distinguish their areas of expertise and responsibility.


Boat designer is the general name for a specialist


involved in aesthetical and/or engineering aspects of boat design; this name might or might not be associated with any special degree or training.


Stylist is a specialist


appearance - aesthetical features of exterior and interior, to some extent


involved in the development of also in elaborating the concept and


ergonomics; he answers the question ‘how the object looks’ Stylist also often creates a ‘lifestyle’ as part of boat use concept.


Naval architect is a specialist with degree in naval architecture possessing qualification


for design,


engineering and certification of boats; answers the questions ‘how the object looks’, ‘how it works’ and ‘how to manufacture it’. Despite during last decades the profession of naval architect has become more about engineering, we would draw more attention to the word ‘architect’ that indicates its creative component.


Marine engineer is general term for a specialist with degree in mechanical/electrical engineering involved in design of machinery, systems and equipment.


Interior designer is a specialist developing aesthetical and technical solutions for interior environment. Unlike the stylist, interior designer is also responsible for


©2012: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects C-43 types of professionals 2. THE DESIGN PROCESS


2.1 SPECIALIST ROLES IN YACHT AND BOAT DESIGN


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