Learning yacht and boat design in the computer age is both rewarding and great fun.  It is no longer necessary to spend hundreds of hours becoming a competent draughtsman before being able to draw a boat that is smooth and fair, as well as satisfying the requirements of buoyancy, flotation, stability and powering.  These technical checks, normally performed by additional modules within the suite of design programs, ensure that the boat will float upright on its draught marks, be sufficiently stable and perform adequately with the engine or sail power available.

Modern computer software tools enable much yacht and boat design work to be carried out by anyone with an understanding of boat geometry (profile, plan, sections, waterlines, buttocks, etc.), good numeracy and a willingness to learn and apply some elements of theoretical naval architecture as design skills develop.

My Yacht Design Training programme for the computer age offers hands-on training on some of the very best hull design and analysis software available.  Training is also offered on the engineering design software used subsequently in the production of the working drawings (CAD).  In addition, I can assist you to develop your own yacht or boat design on your PC at home, at your own pace, but with professional guidance.

With more than 20 years experience in the use of the superb Maxsurf suite of integrated naval architecture software, which is ideal for yacht and boat design, I am very pleased that my office is now an approved training centre for the Maxsurf range (see below).

Maxsurf itself is an impressive and very efficient program for hull modelling and design using separate surfaces for hulls, hull panels, decks, superstructures, keels and bulbs, etc.  It is at the heart of a suite of programs including Hydromax for hydrostatics and stability, Workshop for construction detailing, Hullspeed for resistance and powering, Span for sailing yacht performance prediction and Seakeeper for predicting the motion of a vessel at sea.    

In Maxsurf, surfaces of any shape can be created, smoothed, bonded together, trimmed, sized, resized and manipulated to build an assembly only limited in shape by the imagination of the user.  The current version of Maxsurf (v14) also includes excellent rendering and shading tools to enable the designer to visualize the 3D model in realistic lighting conditions.  Whilst the design work is being performed in MaxSurf, the user can check basic design parameters such as overall dimensions, section areas and hydrostatics for the hull.

Using separate windows, the designer’s screen is normally used to show the plan, profile, sections and perspective views simultaneously.  The normal station lines, waterlines, buttocks and diagonals can be shown on each view as required.  The perspective view can also be rendered with hidden surface elimination and colour shading, taking into account the lighting conditions and surface finish.  A number of fairing tools including colour surface curvature displays and ‘porcupines’ enable the designer to ensure that the surface is fair.  Finally the design can be plotted out, exported to another program in the suite or to a CAD program such as AutoCAD.


MAXSURF TRAINING

One-day training courses for Maxsurf, Hydromax and associated products are offered at both Beginner and Intermediate levels, based on the training procedures suggested by Formation Systems, the creators of the Maxsurf range.

The training courses are charged at a single price for up to 4 people attending.  The training sessions can take place at the clients’ office anywhere in the UK or in my office at Warsash near Southampton.  Coincidentally, Warsash has a worldwide reputation as a centre for maritime training, through the former School of Navigation or College of Nautical Studies, and the current Warsash Maritime Centre.

Please send an Email to info@yacht-designer.co.uk if you require more information on Maxsurf Training, dates of courses and prices.