Stephens Waring Yacht Design

Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

Understanding the Evolution of Headsails

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Design, Marine Engineering, Racing, SWD News & Stories

          Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of evolution of sailboat rigs. Early yachts, like the schooner AMERICA (for whom the Cup was named), were among the first vessels to adopt the then-radical notion of abandoning square sails in favor of sails that could point somewhere close to upwind. However limitations in manual strength and the materials used in sails and rigging made it impossible for sails to be large, strong, and shapely all at the same time, so sail plans were divided into small sections with many sails. AMERICA had two mainsails (actually a mainsail and […]

A Symphony of Silence: The Electric Commuter

and filed under Cross Platform Propulsion, Design, Electric Boats, Marine Engineering, Spirit of Tradition, SWD News & Stories

The genesis of Stephens Warings’ fully electric venture lies in a deep-rooted client relationship, spanning five boat projects over 20+ years. 8.5 m Isobel was motivated by the client’s need to access and maximize enjoyment of a new vacation home located on an island in a remote Maine lake. The client envisioned a mode of transport that reflected the serenity of the pristine lake environment, but with plenty of utility, performance, and reliability- essential for operating far from any marina or fuel dock. Having test-driven traditional ICE-propelled boats and disliking the noise, exhaust, and appearance of high-profile outboard motors, the […]

Amped on Electric Boats

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Design, Electric Boats, Marine Engineering, Sustainability, SWD News & Stories

 14 years ago we launched an innovative custom design– the hybrid diesel/electric-runabout, Zogo. The 29-footer built by French & Webb, features a solar canopy and is equipped with a seven-kilowatt generator/motor integrated onto a 110-horsepower diesel engine from Steyr Diesel of Austria. At full throttle under the 110 hp  diesel, the hull reaches 17 kts. Cutting-edge for the time, in the decade-plus that has transpired, systems technology for electric boat design has progressed significantly. As Stephens Waring embarks on a more contemporary electric boat project, (introducing Isobel), we’re sharing some of the exciting developments we’re integrating into our current designs […]

Charleston, SC Floating Villa | Sneak Peek

and filed under Immerst, Marine Engineering, Sustainability, SWD News & Stories

The Charleston, SC Floating Villa is the latest IMMERST client design.  IMMERST is distilled from 30 years of marine industry leadership translated to floating architectural innovation. With IMMERST, Stephens Waring Design provides a design-build consultancy dedicated to creating sustainable aquatecture with energy-efficient work /play / living solutions. Design Highlights: Proprietary OASys – Ocean Architecture System: an integrated system of floating foundations minimizes environmental impact and mitigates any motion from harbor wake — protects against extreme weather or hurricane storm surges. Sustainable design combines green building techniques with efficient use of space to conserve energy and minimize operating demands on local resources. A […]

Utilities on a Floating Home

and filed under Immerst, Marine Engineering, Sustainability

The attraction of living on a floating home is easy to see: a life on the water, immersed in nature and the ability to enjoy both, right out the front door. The caveat for some homeowners interested in making the leap to an on-water residence may lie in the less romantic area of home utilities. At first glance it may seem that there has to be a trade-off. A house on the water must be a hassle, right? When it comes to electrical circuitry and plumbing systems…how can these possibly work seamlessly in a wet environment?  This month our exploration […]

The Need for Speed

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Design, Marine Engineering, Racing, SWD News & Stories

Last week, on the hot dry sands of Australia’s remote Lake Gairdner, something incredible happened. On a 46.2-foot-long, 4-wheeled, carbon-fiber land-yacht called Horonuku, Glenn Ashby and Team New Zealand set a breathtaking speed record of 222.4 kmh (or 138.2 mph) in a wind-powered vehicle. And just a few weeks earlier in Luderitz, Namibia, a windsurfer named Heidi Ulrich completed a 500-meter run at 47.16 knots setting a new women’s windsurfing speed world record. That’s pretty fast especially when considering she was navigating a channel only 500 meters long and just 14 meters wide. These feats of speed are part of […]

The Rising Tide for Floating Communities

and filed under Construction, Design, Immerst, Marine Engineering, Sustainability, SWD News & Stories

By Reed Rowley The concept of the floating metropolis has lived as a science fiction concept ever since French author Jules Verne described them in his novel The Floating City in 1871.  Since then, the idea of the large modern floating municipality has been parked on the scientific and engineering backburner. Today there are more people living in Antarctica than in modern floating communities around the world.  However, with the twin pressures of population density and climate change causing sea levels to rise, serious attention is being refocused on reimagining and reinventing floating communities as a solution to the challenges […]

5 Principles Building Boats Can Teach Us About Building on Land

and filed under Design, Immerst, Marine Engineering, Sustainability, SWD News & Stories

As a design firm rooted in the marine industry, we often reference the great naval architects and boat builders of the past to draw inspiration. Looking back through the annals of marine history provides not only fascinating insight into the past, it also sparks the imagination to find the next great design innovation. While boatbuilding and marine design may constitute only a small percentage of the larger architecture and design world, it’s increasingly clear that there are many best practices and principles of boatbuilding (both old and new), which can help inspire, innovate, and guide the future of architecture, construction, […]

site by: slickfish studios

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