Wooden boats and their environment




Ireland has a rich tradition of boat-building, both working craft and racing boats. These boats were designed for specific purposes and particular places, local weather, materials and craftsmanship were incorporated into their designs. Sometimes the designs came from abroad and were adapted for local conditions. Many of these designs are still preserved and active today.


This course is about designing a wooden sailing boat for Lough Derg (County Tipperary) referring to the history and traditions of local construction and water use. Students will learn about the history of boat design and construction, the processes of design and the methods of construction. There will be visits to boatyards and boatbuilders with a particular emphasis on techniques of wooden construction. The final objective is the creation of a new design of sailing craft.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

New Design part 2 - Brief


The brief for a new boat is the most contentious and creative task of designing a new boat (Uffa Fox, Nathaniel Hereshoff, Olin Stephens) It seems more likely that a boat will fail due to a flaw in its brief than a flaw in its design, many boats flourish with curious designs, difficult construction, expensive maintenance etc but most of those that flourish do seem to cater to the people and the environment they sail in. We will continue discussing the brief and refining it based on the developing precedent studies.

The brief in its most outline sense based on last week’s detailed discussion (and Colin’s summary):
  • New wooden boat for Lough Derg
  • Different to existing classes sailing/racing on the lake – Shannon One Design, Squib, laser, mirror, oppie, j24
  • Particularly appealing to 16-30 year olds
  • Not too expensive
  • Exciting
  • Uses qualities of Lough Derg
  • Beautiful
  • Some homebuilding possibly
  • Suited to mixed wind strengths but particularly lighter air.
  • Mixed gender
  • 2 person
You are free to take your own angle on that, variety is richness, you may want to bring in ideas from your individual boat studies (or something more alternative). Each design will need the following:
  • Name of boat (and designers)
  • Line plans, complete set, including underwater foils.
  • Sail plan drawing
  • One a4 sheet explaining the method of construction.
  • Half model at 1:10
  • Sheet with all vital statistics, dimensions, weights, sail area, ratios.
  • One a4 sheet explaining the reasoning behind the design and how it is to be used.


Very interesting map of the lake, this is the 1839 Wolfe survey with fishermen's names of places overlayed. Via Irish Fishing Tours and Shane Creamer.

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