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.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Traditional Boat Studies

To begin the discussion about why boats are shaped and built differently across Ireland a series of design studies are proposed, the suggested boats:

Sean - Irish Hooker
Maeve - Traditional skin boats (excluding curachs and Naomhogs)
Margarita - The Donegal Curach
Robyn - The Kerry Naomhog
Ralph - The Achill yawl
Ed - The Waterford Prong
Aoibhin - Racing gigs of West Cork
Hugo - Dublin Bay racing skiff
Michelle - Traditional boats of the river Shannon (excluding Shannon One Design)
Gillian - Dublin Bay Mermaid
Patrick - Bantry Longboat

Colin - Fairy One Design



The vital information you will need to find:
A photograph of boat
A drawing of boat
The boat’s dimensions
The materials and methods of construction
The origin and history of the boat.
The use of the boat, purpose, amount of people
The environment of the boat, weather, shore, waves, fresh water, tidal, mud etc
Method of powering the boat
Good points vs bad points (i.e. reasons it prospered or reasons it failed)
Based on this comparitive analysis of these boats we will be beginning the process of creating a brief for a new boat for Lough Derg.
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