A few years back, well before the pandemic, I attended a talk that Tad Roberts gave at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival about what constitutes good design. Although he was talking about boats, he actually started with the ideas of ancient Roman architect, Vitruvius, which were that good design should combine three things, which he labeled Commodity (utilitas - efficient arrangement of spaces & systems to meet the functional needs of its occupants), Firmness (firmitas - physical strength secured the building's structural integrity), and Delight (venustas - style, proportion, and visual beauty). Tad observed that these ancient rules could also be applied to boats, i.e. good design is timeless.
Tad proposed his own three rules for the aesthetic aspect of boats, which he says should be Balanced, Formal and Austere. He proposes that, in addition, there are other attributes which result from good design; Excitement, Cohesion, Elegance, Identity and Practicality.
I was struck by this approach and it occurred to me that these ideas could all be related to each other in a 3-circle Venn diagram, with Commodity, Firmness and Delight comprising the three circles, and Tad’s additional rules falling in various places among the circles and their intersections. At the very centre, in my view, at the intersection of all three, would be Balance, Identity and Elegance. As Tad continually points out, boat design is a matter of tradeoffs of all these elements and how to balance them.
If you take this Venn diagram approach, you then have a useful tool for looking at the various trends in boat design, including specific parts of the boat like bows, or how well the overall bits of the boat hang together.
To take your example of plumb bows, by themselves, I would have to ask how well they fit with the rest of the boat and how practical are they for the boat’s intended purpose. They might be fine for flat, protected waters or a flat-out racing boat like an IMOCA 60 where you can put up with the discomfort, but in an ocean-crossing cruising sailboat do they provide sufficient reserve buoyancy to prevent serious pitching when thrashing to windward 1,000 miles offshore in a big head sea?
For an example of overall boat design, such as the Axopar boats, I would argue that while they might be practical and structurally strong enough, they fail on identity, elegance and balance. They look to me like a wannabe Bond villain boat, but clearly aren’t. The various parts do not make a harmonious whole and I don’t think anyone would call them elegant.
Try using this mental checklist the next time you walk the docks.
Boat design these days is probably like a lot of things in the world now, a performance only with no evidence of reason and often displaying something more akin to insanity.
Well Marty: First, you've articulated what I've felt last few years as to the "macho man" pick-up truck designs. We were rear-ended by one because he couldn't see over his "in your face" front grill.
Second: I'm 80. And,, at this point, marvel at the mega-outboards strapped in multiples onto a transom. However, seems like there's always been designs that stroke egos when it comes to boating. (The Cigarette boats of Florida?) I guess I just go about my humble boating... (getting near the end) and ignore other's boating passions...unless they encroach on my simple boating life...
You're right about a number of observations including forward leaning wind screens. My personal impression is that most of these boats will never be introduced to greenwater. Given what I see on nearly every dock I've ever walked down, I've told myself that boats are in fact, a figment of an owners imagination to a great degree and many never leave the dock. If the dream gets them through the day I have no problem supporting their choices, but I do hope, as with all boats they get used within the envelope of prudence. Failing that perhaps it's a matter of winnowing the gene pool.
When I look at the Axopar, I get to thinking of Steve Dashew's Wind Horse design; which is a true-go anywhere cruiser. But whereas the Wind Horse can take you from homeport to Antarctica, the Axopar is a more closer-to-home adventure boat.
And I can't help but wonder if the designers of the Axopar and Wind Horse had thoughts of Phil Bolger's Tennessee in mind. Tennesse is where the long hull and narrow beam and plumb stem originated. Even the boxy, airy pilothouse's on these boats began with Bolger's boat.....
1) form should follow function, with minimal complications
2) a boat's function is to move through water and air
3) both resist the boat's motion and neither like to abruptly change direction
4) therefore the boat's shape should conform to the direction of its movement through the water and air, and one line should flow into another without hard angles.
I just got back from the Victoria start of the R2AK - talk about diversity of designs in sail and human powered boats. All the 30 vessels were 'adapted' to the race; none were designed specifically for the race conditions they will meet - extreme ranges of waves, currents, wind, obstacles (logs in particular), etc. plus human needs for safety, comfort, requirements for human propulsion, and physiological requirements and stresses, along with the desire to finish the race let alone win. This raises the question, shouldn't good boat design be first dependent on the natural conditions the vessel must deal with, then on its purpose, practicality, and sustainability (for both vessel and crew)? I wonder if a boat's subjective 'beauty' would necessarily arise from meeting those basic criteria of fitting the design to nature then to human needs. For me, the classic Cape Horn schooners come to mind where beauty was perhaps not even a design criterion. The Axopar might look like a beautiful vessel as a patrol boat racing around on flat water but seen on the high seas it would look like an ugly disaster.
Many of the boats I see remind me of a Buck Rogers space ship. Somehow the marine industries have decided to turn over their design departments to junior high school kids. Same thing with cars. One sailboat trend that elicits the "fingernails on a blackboard" reaction from me is the reverse slope of the transom.
The most beautiful lines drawing I have seen in a boat design is Billy Atkiin's "Eric Junior," a 25 foot double end design. The original Eric was a 32 footer of great beam--11 feet or more, in other words, quite plump; according to Atkin derived from the Colin Archer Norwegian life boat heritage. Eric Jr. is a leaner, slimmed down variation. I have actually seen a couple of them in the flesh (so to speak). Sacrificed for this elegance is interior accommodations and standing headroom. The interior is quite sparse.
The opposite to this concept is the Bayliner Buccaneer, which accomplishes great headroom by stacking several raised decks on top of each other. Bill Garden, who did design several lovely boats, was the culprit responsible for the design. You can read commentaries on this boat by googling "Bayliner Buccaneer."
David - How disheartening to think that Bill Garden had anything to do with the grotesque Bayliner Buccaneer. While he may have taken money from Bayliner, he made up for it with a lifetime of great designs…most of which were light-years-removed from the unfortunate Buccaneer.
There seem to be several Buccaneer variations. The one I find most offensive has two rows of windows--one above the other. Top row is in the cabin sides; the lower row is in the raised topsides portion of the hull. Ugh!
The angry boat looks reflect what has developed in North American society. This trend in boat design seems to suggest that the boat is a means of conquering the sea with lots of raw power and the ability to cut through the waves.
Watch the videos that show the power boaters going through the inlets in Florida. They don’t know enough to slow down and work with the wave pattern. Some just want to show off by conquering for fun and find that they lose a passenger overboard or end up with a boat load of sea water. There must be a bunch of boats there that have experienced the stresses of years of use inflicted on them in only a few months. Transoms with multiple high horsepower outboards driving boats into big waves must see a lot of flex.
Boat design that works with the sea makes more sense, but skippers who select boats that are designed to work well in the conditions they encounter already understand that ultimately the sea is the master and attempts to “conquer “ it will reveal that fact.
I agree with your sense that there is a more "manly" style from trucks to even boats today. It seems like everyone needs to be more "bad ass" in some way. Out paddling yesterday on what I call the "redneck riviera" here in So. Jersey, I came across a boat of about 28 ft. with with four 250 hp. engines , it maybe necessary to reach the canyons 70 miles out but nary a fishing rod or outrigger on board. Maybe just a bit of overkill.
Where is RAVEN's stem, Marty? (grin). I'm not much for modern boats, but for folks with limited weekend time, I can appreciate the idea of a fast boat for short trips. in waters without many logs or debris. But most modern powerboat design really isn't appealing to me - it just comes across as "functional ugly".
With all I hear about the logs in the Pacific NW, that diamond-plate stem might actually be the most functionally "correct" piece of the whole bunch. Ugly, though.
Haven't read it yet but just glanced at the photos -
Interesting the thoughts that come with each image. One I had to hold down my gut. One had a mod that made you wonder, "what happened for you to do that?" etc. etc.
I love dock walking and seeing others crafts. To me, it is as good as visiting a Maritime Museum, simetimes.
I didn't see any RHIBs, with appropriate disparaging comments. Are they just not much seen in the PNW? Lake Michigan has a surplus of the things. I can see them as military work boats for limited mission sets, but not as a general use recreation boat. The styling seems to be uniform from the inflated belt to keel, but the topsides seem to be uniformly collections of the least attractive elements of European Modern Design.
Marty,
A few years back, well before the pandemic, I attended a talk that Tad Roberts gave at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival about what constitutes good design. Although he was talking about boats, he actually started with the ideas of ancient Roman architect, Vitruvius, which were that good design should combine three things, which he labeled Commodity (utilitas - efficient arrangement of spaces & systems to meet the functional needs of its occupants), Firmness (firmitas - physical strength secured the building's structural integrity), and Delight (venustas - style, proportion, and visual beauty). Tad observed that these ancient rules could also be applied to boats, i.e. good design is timeless.
Tad proposed his own three rules for the aesthetic aspect of boats, which he says should be Balanced, Formal and Austere. He proposes that, in addition, there are other attributes which result from good design; Excitement, Cohesion, Elegance, Identity and Practicality.
I was struck by this approach and it occurred to me that these ideas could all be related to each other in a 3-circle Venn diagram, with Commodity, Firmness and Delight comprising the three circles, and Tad’s additional rules falling in various places among the circles and their intersections. At the very centre, in my view, at the intersection of all three, would be Balance, Identity and Elegance. As Tad continually points out, boat design is a matter of tradeoffs of all these elements and how to balance them.
If you take this Venn diagram approach, you then have a useful tool for looking at the various trends in boat design, including specific parts of the boat like bows, or how well the overall bits of the boat hang together.
To take your example of plumb bows, by themselves, I would have to ask how well they fit with the rest of the boat and how practical are they for the boat’s intended purpose. They might be fine for flat, protected waters or a flat-out racing boat like an IMOCA 60 where you can put up with the discomfort, but in an ocean-crossing cruising sailboat do they provide sufficient reserve buoyancy to prevent serious pitching when thrashing to windward 1,000 miles offshore in a big head sea?
For an example of overall boat design, such as the Axopar boats, I would argue that while they might be practical and structurally strong enough, they fail on identity, elegance and balance. They look to me like a wannabe Bond villain boat, but clearly aren’t. The various parts do not make a harmonious whole and I don’t think anyone would call them elegant.
Try using this mental checklist the next time you walk the docks.
Tad is a wise and immensley talented designer; thanks for summarizing his views, Alex. (Readers who are not familiar should check out Tad’s website.)
Boat design these days is probably like a lot of things in the world now, a performance only with no evidence of reason and often displaying something more akin to insanity.
Well Marty: First, you've articulated what I've felt last few years as to the "macho man" pick-up truck designs. We were rear-ended by one because he couldn't see over his "in your face" front grill.
Second: I'm 80. And,, at this point, marvel at the mega-outboards strapped in multiples onto a transom. However, seems like there's always been designs that stroke egos when it comes to boating. (The Cigarette boats of Florida?) I guess I just go about my humble boating... (getting near the end) and ignore other's boating passions...unless they encroach on my simple boating life...
You're right about a number of observations including forward leaning wind screens. My personal impression is that most of these boats will never be introduced to greenwater. Given what I see on nearly every dock I've ever walked down, I've told myself that boats are in fact, a figment of an owners imagination to a great degree and many never leave the dock. If the dream gets them through the day I have no problem supporting their choices, but I do hope, as with all boats they get used within the envelope of prudence. Failing that perhaps it's a matter of winnowing the gene pool.
When I look at the Axopar, I get to thinking of Steve Dashew's Wind Horse design; which is a true-go anywhere cruiser. But whereas the Wind Horse can take you from homeport to Antarctica, the Axopar is a more closer-to-home adventure boat.
And I can't help but wonder if the designers of the Axopar and Wind Horse had thoughts of Phil Bolger's Tennessee in mind. Tennesse is where the long hull and narrow beam and plumb stem originated. Even the boxy, airy pilothouse's on these boats began with Bolger's boat.....
Especially with respect to the Stabi-Craft:
1) form should follow function, with minimal complications
2) a boat's function is to move through water and air
3) both resist the boat's motion and neither like to abruptly change direction
4) therefore the boat's shape should conform to the direction of its movement through the water and air, and one line should flow into another without hard angles.
I just got back from the Victoria start of the R2AK - talk about diversity of designs in sail and human powered boats. All the 30 vessels were 'adapted' to the race; none were designed specifically for the race conditions they will meet - extreme ranges of waves, currents, wind, obstacles (logs in particular), etc. plus human needs for safety, comfort, requirements for human propulsion, and physiological requirements and stresses, along with the desire to finish the race let alone win. This raises the question, shouldn't good boat design be first dependent on the natural conditions the vessel must deal with, then on its purpose, practicality, and sustainability (for both vessel and crew)? I wonder if a boat's subjective 'beauty' would necessarily arise from meeting those basic criteria of fitting the design to nature then to human needs. For me, the classic Cape Horn schooners come to mind where beauty was perhaps not even a design criterion. The Axopar might look like a beautiful vessel as a patrol boat racing around on flat water but seen on the high seas it would look like an ugly disaster.
Many of the boats I see remind me of a Buck Rogers space ship. Somehow the marine industries have decided to turn over their design departments to junior high school kids. Same thing with cars. One sailboat trend that elicits the "fingernails on a blackboard" reaction from me is the reverse slope of the transom.
The most beautiful lines drawing I have seen in a boat design is Billy Atkiin's "Eric Junior," a 25 foot double end design. The original Eric was a 32 footer of great beam--11 feet or more, in other words, quite plump; according to Atkin derived from the Colin Archer Norwegian life boat heritage. Eric Jr. is a leaner, slimmed down variation. I have actually seen a couple of them in the flesh (so to speak). Sacrificed for this elegance is interior accommodations and standing headroom. The interior is quite sparse.
The opposite to this concept is the Bayliner Buccaneer, which accomplishes great headroom by stacking several raised decks on top of each other. Bill Garden, who did design several lovely boats, was the culprit responsible for the design. You can read commentaries on this boat by googling "Bayliner Buccaneer."
David - How disheartening to think that Bill Garden had anything to do with the grotesque Bayliner Buccaneer. While he may have taken money from Bayliner, he made up for it with a lifetime of great designs…most of which were light-years-removed from the unfortunate Buccaneer.
There seem to be several Buccaneer variations. The one I find most offensive has two rows of windows--one above the other. Top row is in the cabin sides; the lower row is in the raised topsides portion of the hull. Ugh!
The angry boat looks reflect what has developed in North American society. This trend in boat design seems to suggest that the boat is a means of conquering the sea with lots of raw power and the ability to cut through the waves.
Watch the videos that show the power boaters going through the inlets in Florida. They don’t know enough to slow down and work with the wave pattern. Some just want to show off by conquering for fun and find that they lose a passenger overboard or end up with a boat load of sea water. There must be a bunch of boats there that have experienced the stresses of years of use inflicted on them in only a few months. Transoms with multiple high horsepower outboards driving boats into big waves must see a lot of flex.
Boat design that works with the sea makes more sense, but skippers who select boats that are designed to work well in the conditions they encounter already understand that ultimately the sea is the master and attempts to “conquer “ it will reveal that fact.
And all this great dock walking accompanied by the Purple Martins chittering overhead.
Purple Martins are the best way to wake up here in Friday Harbor, or in our home-port marina.
I agree with your sense that there is a more "manly" style from trucks to even boats today. It seems like everyone needs to be more "bad ass" in some way. Out paddling yesterday on what I call the "redneck riviera" here in So. Jersey, I came across a boat of about 28 ft. with with four 250 hp. engines , it maybe necessary to reach the canyons 70 miles out but nary a fishing rod or outrigger on board. Maybe just a bit of overkill.
Where is RAVEN's stem, Marty? (grin). I'm not much for modern boats, but for folks with limited weekend time, I can appreciate the idea of a fast boat for short trips. in waters without many logs or debris. But most modern powerboat design really isn't appealing to me - it just comes across as "functional ugly".
With all I hear about the logs in the Pacific NW, that diamond-plate stem might actually be the most functionally "correct" piece of the whole bunch. Ugly, though.
Haven't read it yet but just glanced at the photos -
Interesting the thoughts that come with each image. One I had to hold down my gut. One had a mod that made you wonder, "what happened for you to do that?" etc. etc.
I love dock walking and seeing others crafts. To me, it is as good as visiting a Maritime Museum, simetimes.
Back to now read...
I didn't see any RHIBs, with appropriate disparaging comments. Are they just not much seen in the PNW? Lake Michigan has a surplus of the things. I can see them as military work boats for limited mission sets, but not as a general use recreation boat. The styling seems to be uniform from the inflated belt to keel, but the topsides seem to be uniformly collections of the least attractive elements of European Modern Design.