Boat Design

New designs from our drawing board, and assorted thoughts on boat design in general.

Weak Links

Is there an advantage to designed-in weak links, where a cheap and easily replaced part fails so that a more expensive one can be saved?
In many cases, there is; nevertheless, we shouldn't apply this design philosophy to everything we design.

Why I love boat trailers

If a boat is a magic carpet for dreams, then a trailer is a magic carpet for a boat.

Simple systems: It's about design, not quantity

What do we mean when we say a boat's systems are "simple"?

There's a temptation, at times, to say that simplicity is about cutting back. About leaving out whole systems to save on installation and maintenance dollars. I don't think that's really what it's about.

What we're really looking for when we say "simple" is, more often than not, elegance. Maintainability. Reliability. The least complex, least costly way to fill a stated specification. The ability for the captain to understand, and repair, every system on the boat.

The meaning of simplicity

Many of you know that I'm an advocate of simplicity and elegance in systems design. What, though, does that really mean?

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