Among things that attracted me to boat design was the description of Naval Architecture as a "blend of Art and Engineering". That's quite different from other disciplines. Unfortunately with more powerful computers and more robust mathematics, the Engineering side has often eclipsed the Art side. Today you may see more calculations done for a 40-foot boat than were done on big ships in the 50's and 60's. There is nothing wrong with that. There's just the sad feeling that somehow 50% of our attention has gotten diverted. As the technical design gets dissected into microscopic samples, the Art side with its implications of look, style and functionality receive little if any discussion.

New tools are helping designers crawl deeper into the practicalities of their designs, more than was possible using flat sheets of paper. Most of us have been developing 3d hulls for decades. Still it was used largely as a technical tool simplifying measurements and calculations. The ability to really create the boat on a desktop is a decidedly recent addition. Once only available to well heeled owners, many designers now have the resources and skill to look at the boat not just in a primitive way but to see it in fully photo realistic terms. Caution: the fact that you have a nice 3d image doesn't mean it's a good boat. Still, it does help the designer with the Art side, not to mention helping the client visualize drawings.

Moving inside the boat can be even more revealing. While a designer's eye and drafting techniques have serviced us well, there is nothing like crawling (figuratively) inside the boat to find the unexpected interfaces and elements that otherwise have to be sorted out on the shop floor. For many of us these tools have become more than ways to make pretty images. They are essential elements in sculpting a good boat. You can see examples on our New 3d Portfolio page at nevilleboats.com