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

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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, too[.....]

The Typical Powerboat is Not Seaworthy

By admin | Published: November 18, 2011
The typical production powerboat is far from seaworthy in even slightly adverse conditions. Above is a Cooper Prowler 42′ which is typical of boats intended to sell at boatshows because of impressive interior volume. These boats are huge inside for their length by being high off the water and beamy, both detrimental to seaworthiness. Note[.....]

Documenting Historic BC Boats

By admin | Published: October 20, 2011
BC BOATS PROJECT Today my son and I were looking at the Nanceda construction drawing by Robert Allan published in the opening pages of Alan Haig-Brown’s Fishing for A Living. Keel, 11 ½” sided, 13 ½” molded, Fir, Shelf 4×10, Clamp 4×12, Horn Timber, Fir, sided 16”, Stem 10×18, Gum…..and so on. Every piece an[.....]

Sealing Schooners

By admin | Published: October 4, 2011
The Pelagic Sealing Industry boomed from the 1880’s until it was closed by international treaty in 1911. The sealing was done from small open boats based aboard relatively small sailing schooners. This Bering Sea sealing fleet was based out of Victoria BC and in the photo above some of the schooners are seen in the[.....]

STORMVOGEL

By admin | Published: September 20, 2011
In my previous post concerning design ideas I mentioned Stormvogel, now let’s have a look at her. In the photo above, taken by Beken and Son, she is “charging through the Solent in the 1961 Cowes Regatta” (from Laurent Giles and his Yacht Designs). She had just been launched that year after building in South[.....]

Working Schooners

By admin | Published: September 20, 2011
I was wondering about the web last night when I became aware that the term “Working Schooner” might be in danger from copy writers in Hollywood. Due to the recent popularity of certain Disney movies, what were formerly honest working vessels are being converted to “Pirate Ships”. Instead of hauling cargo, carrying paying passengers, or[.....]

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 De[.....]

Frank Fredette II

By admin | Published: July 20, 2011
In yesterday’s posting I listed the Frank Fredette drawings I have access to, but I didn’t mention the other Fredette designs that I know of. Particularly of interest is his design #75 the 54′ Fishing Motor Schooner of which there are a number of in BC. I’ll go through the Fredette designs I know of[.....]

William Garden

By admin | Published: July 18, 2011
William Garden was, and continues to be, an inspiration as well as instructor and advisor. In my work his writings and drawings are still (in our modern design age!) some of my most often used references. The maxims he gave me in our rare phone conversations are passed on to every aspiring designer who contacts[.....]

Frank Fredette

By admin | Published: July 18, 2011
Francis E. Fredette was born in 1893 and first went to sea as cabin boy on a sealing schooner, the Eva Marie, out of Victoria. The six month winter voyage to the Bering Sea and Pribiloff Islands provided young Frank with the experience of a lifetime, and the basis of a life in boats. Pelagic[.....]

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