new member intro

Hi there,

I just want to introduce myself. My name is Rich Lackey and I have been designing a 52m multi deck sailing yacht since early 2000. It's a hobby not a profession but one I take very seriously.

I use Rhino3D for my modelling, and a shelf full of good books on naval architecture and yacht design. So far I have completed the basic design of the hull and superstructure, and after about 31 revisions of the hull alone, it finally meets the design criteria as far as stability and performance projections are concerned. It is a radius chine steel hull, and this was chosen in the hopes that one day I can actually build it myself.

I am now busy building the first scale model of the hull for tank testing. I have joined to meet likeminded people and to learn and hopefully get some much needed help along the way.

I look forward to meeting you all and joining in some discussions!

Rich Lackey

Thanks guys,

I've attached a few renderings of the hull and basic superstructure that I have been using for stability calculations. It's by no means a finished model, and the hull itself is the only part that has come to a point where it probably won't change much more.

It's a split level raised deck design, inspired by a 1930's motor yacht of a similar size that I fell in love with a good few years back, I want this to be a modern interpretation of art deco period design inside and out.

Designing such a hull for use in a sailing yacht has been challenging to say the least, and stability has been my main problem. The way it is at the moment, if it capsizes, it's staying that way.

Well, I'm not going to pretend it doesn't have problems, probably even at a conceptual level as I've never seen a raised deck sailing yacht in my life, but we'll see, I'm willing to start from scratch again to make it work, or lose the uppermost deck, which will already improve things somewhat as far as stability is concerned.

As you can see, I haven't reached the point of designing the keel and rudder yet, and I'm still playing around with different types of keel design, this too will end up affecting stability, so the calculations are far from over.

In terms of interior and deck layout, so far all my drawings are still on paper but quite comprehensive.

Lars, I have to say that while part of me likes the idea of loose furniture, I agree with you that it isn't practical for a sailing yacht that will see much actual sailing. I've seen some beautiful pictures taken of such yachts, but to be honest have always wondered what happens at large degrees of heel.

I think my next challenge after getting the arrangement and design of the upper decks and superstructure sorted out will be the actual structural design, as I'm not sure where to start with stress and load analysis. I have plenty of books and reading on the subject, but it can get a bit overwhelming and most give examples using composite materials and construction, not steel. However, if I can handle hydrodynamic and stability calculations, I'm sure I can handle this too in time.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Any input, positive or negative would be so appreciated! I want to learn!

Oh, here's some pictures of the actual model so far. It's coming together nicely. I have no idea how these models are actually built professionally, remember, an an amatuer at this! I printed out frame section outlines from the 3D model and built the model from cardstock. It will be fibreglassed, sanded and then painted. Obviously internal structure is not to scale or in any way a representation of the actual hull inner structure, the design has not progressed that far yet.

Even if it isn't suitable for tank testing (it may be too small anyway) I will finish it as a model for display and build another one for testing.

The hull is fair however, at least at this scale which indicates that hopefully I did something right.

Wow, the Atlantide is beautiful, but no that wasn't the inspiration for this design, it was a Daniel Skirra design, here's a link.

http://www.skirayachtdesign.com/ds170raiseddeckmyindex.html

I approached him about my design in 1999 and he sent me large scale blueprints and specifications of his design.

Mine was to be loosely based on his 170' raised deck motor yacht design, but as a true sailing yacht. Since I was not working for a client, only myself, I had my own design criteria for the project, and while I wanted to stay true to the aesthetics of my inspiration, it was clear to me that what I intended to design only really held aesthetics in common with the motor yacht, it had to be designed from scratch to satisfy it's own criteria and purpose.

That's how it started, anyway.

I'm trying to speed things up, but I have limited time to put into the project at the moment, so I'm going as fast as I can.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Rich