Low Tide

Yacht Designer Tad Roberts' Web Log
Wooden seine boat Chelsea Lake. Sank 1987Documenting Historic BC Boats

Category Archives: general design

LESSONS IN APPROPRIATE ARCHITECTURE

By admin | Published: January 17, 2012
Lessons in Appropriate Architecture Appropriate architecture (design) applies to both buildings and boats, as well as all the other manufactured items we use every day. Appropriate materials, aesthetics, how something fits in terms of surrounding environment, use, and historic context are all central to appropriate design. My first lessons in architecture came from[.....]

Sailing Yacht Proportions

By admin | Published: November 25, 2011
The first fundamental of great design is basic proportions, if you get those wrong the rest is just window dressing. I was stunned to see a full page ad in the latest Classic Boat featuring really bad proportions. See the new 56′ from Spirit Yachts above. Everything is wrong, the sheer is too high,[.....]

Design Ideas and their History

By admin | Published: September 1, 2011
Design Ideas Where do ideas come from? It’s a long and tortuous path. Today I happened to note an arrangement concept for a new design by Gerry Dijkstra that seems to be directly descended from one I conceived 15 years ago. For me the roots of this idea lie in the 1961 E.G. Van[.....]

Sailing Cruisers in 2020

By Tad Roberts | Published: February 25, 2010
SAILING CRUISERS IN 2020 What will the famous cruisers of 2020 look like? Will they be high tech canting keel carbon fiber wonders, or will they be simple wooden boats with few “modern” “inconveniences”. We have gone through a phase…the 1980’s-90’s…..of cruiser’s expecting to take it all with them. Boats got bigger (fatter and[.....]

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