Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a book written by a knowledgable and experienced designer, Steve Killing, who understood his audience to be the average person. You don't really even have to know how to sail to appreciate this book (but I'd suggest it). It's well written and the diagrams are perhaps the best I've seen in a boat book.
On the downside the editing of the book places diagrams occasionally two pages away from the text that details it. This does is disturb the flow of the topic you are deep in the middle of. Plus, some interesting topics (such as adjustable backstays) are given a very light overview, and some (like bulkhead/hull/deck joint mechanics) are not covered at all.
Basically, it's a book about performance yacht design. That means it is primarily focused on the sailing aspects or hulls, and rigging, and keels, as opposed to liveability, or pure structural tradeoffs in yacht building.
That said, I've read it twice already, which for me is a rarity. Buy this book!
-thaw-
Click Here to see more reviews about: Yacht Design Explained: A Boat Owner's Guide to the Principles and Practice of Design
At last, sailboat design explained in a way that all boat owners can understand and put to use.
The first guide to design aimed at every sailor, Yacht Design Explained uses state-of-the-art graphics, dynamic charts and photographs, and clear explanations to show what makes hulls, keels, ballast, rudders, foils, masts, and sails work. It reveals why certain designs perform well and others fail.The authors examine a range of boats, from a 14-foot dinghy to a 40-foot cruiser, from a catamaran to an offshore singlehander. They break through the often confusing physics of yacht design to provide an understanding that sailors can use to get the most out of their time afloat. Photographs, illustrations, charts
