Stephens Waring Yacht Design

Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

Marine Engineering 105: Why My Boat Costs What It Costs?

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Design, Marine Engineering

Pricing dreams is the no-win gig in yacht design. No matter how hard we try, we never seem to be able to get away from the hard fact that the magic of enjoying a boat only displaces a fraction more than the frustration that comes with pricing that boat. It’s not rocket science as to why new boats are hard to cost out: The only thing posing more variables when building a yacht, is the owner’s evolving expectations in creating that yacht. Assisting clients in pricing their priorities is tricky. We have evolved two methods to get at an early approximation for […]

The 3D Boat Designer In Your Pocket.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Design

Designing boats is about to go mobile. One of our most interesting side gigs is collaborating with the next generation of younger yacht designers. Two of our most promising Web student collaborators are Cassio Neres, a teaching assistant up at The Landings School in Southern Maine. And a naval surveyor named Matthew Knoll who has a terrific idea for a 30-foot swamp racer/chill boat he’s self-designing down in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie.   While both are working on their designs that we will be sharing in full detail when they are ready, we got an excellent question from […]

“De Nederlandse Yacht Factor:” Early Thoughts on How the Dutch Rule the Marine Design Seas.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Design, Marine Engineering

When it comes to dealing with fluid molecules of hydrogen and oxygen, the Dutch have water down cold. The small low-lying nation-state that is The Netherlands leads the world in many marine-oriented categories. It is the global master of large-scale flood management and wetlands maintenance projects, like the Zuiderzee or Delta Works. The Dutch crush it in water-generated power and industrial energy applications. And closer to our floating world, the Dutch yacht design and engineering economy is filled with storied operations like Royal Huisman, Dykstra Design and Hoek Design. Studying these great outfits work is one of the humbling parts […]

The Spirit of Tradition “Guest Cottage:” The Most Exclusive Marine Environments on Earth — But at a Fraction of the Cost.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Design, Immerst, Marine Engineering, Spirit of Tradition

It’s been a bit spooky out here on the sidelines of the Tiny Floating House wave. We love the charm of smaller homes that float. But it’s scary how seemingly unaware smaller floating home makers are of the nautical engineering realities of self-contained little, floating human worlds.   On many levels, “Floating Homes” are different than yachts. They do not need to be easily driven through the water. They do not carry sails. Most don’t have motors. And often, floating homes have more consistent and lower-cost access to shoreside infrastructure. But these miss the point — and risks — of […]

Marine Engineering 103: The Hidden Life of Chainplates.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Marine Engineering

In terms of unknown, unloved, and uncared-for naval engineering heroes, it’s tough to beat chainplates. That’s right, chainplates. The deeply-engineered chunks of metal or space-age composites that join hulls to rigging and masts. Chainplates aren’t exactly flashy. They do none of the sexy “sail-ish” stuff of generating lift or foiling through water. They don’t help a boat float or navigate. Think of chainplates as anchors, they merely connect. They are part of the virtual engineering chain that manages the enormous loads of a large boat moving through wind and water. Chainplates do their work using bronze, stainless steel, aluminum and […]

How To Launch a Torqeedo.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Marine Engineering

Thanks to the folks at Torqeedo, getting rid of that silly old internal combustion engine has never been easier. Back in 2014, one of our favorite smaller designs, The Signature Series 24, got a loving prototype build up at the Northwestern School of Boatbuilding, in Port Hadlock, Washington. Christened Azulita at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, that year, this little Spirit of Tradition honey has since made her way to the mid-west. These days she charms her current owners day-sailing on Lake Michigan. (Go ahead, waste the morning and check this video of her footing around in, at most, 5 knots […]

The Millennium Falcon Comes to Foggy.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Marine Engineering

Not that long ago, in a boatshop not so far away, our former co-workers at Brooklin Boat Yard gave us a plumb gig: Engineer probably the single most complicated boarding system for probably the most unique sloop on the planet: the 74-foot, Frank Gehry/German Frers-designed Foggy II.  After a similar number of design hours that we’d put into the design of an average 40 footer — the Millennium Falcon was born. The Falcon, as we have come to call it, is the central fitting for the do-it-all, transom-mounted articulated boarding stair that could also reach out and dock with a dingy,  tender, or […]

Conrad Coleman sailing around the world unassisted and without diesel fuel.

Around the World, Unassisted, and Without Diesel Fuel.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Marine Engineering

We are as rapt as any sailor with the 2016 Vendee Globe. Who can resist this most serious test of sailing ability? We’re glued to our smartphones and PCs, following the global match racing that every four years brings us bizarre and beautiful footage of the craziest, most daring, mostly French, solo sailors blasting around the globe, unassisted, in high-tech, insanely powerful machines. But we as boat designers have a deeper backstory to explore in this 2016 Vendee Globe. There’s a serious hybrid-engineering angle going on deep in the fleet. Foresight Natural Energy, skippered by 33 year-old Conrad Colman, is trying to lap of the […]

site by: slickfish studios

© Stephens Waring Yacht Design. All Rights Reserved. • Privacy Policy