what tasks are necessary to develop a boat or yacht design?
To a novice, design may be seen or thought of as the graphic development of a drawing, rendering or picture of a boat or yacht. It is much more than that. The designer's finished product are drawings of a marine vessel to be built which include more than visual or aesthetic styling; a yacht designer needs to be skilled in many technical specialties to make space and weight allowances for accommodations, structure, propulsion machinery, support systems, etc., which are encapsulated in a pleasing, efficient and seaworthy hull form.
The level of detail developed by the designer begins as sketches and growing into a concept design to evaluate the technical feasibility of incorporating the owner's or mission requirements. As feasibility is validated the designer continues to expand the level of detail to a preliminary design where significant technical decisions are made, such as selection of propulsion engine manufacturer, model number and specifications. The form, fit and function of required systems equipment necessary to operate the vessel are specified. The next level of design detail is elevated to that of contract plans and specifications which provide sufficient detail for a shipyard to offer the perspective owner a price and time of delivery. Should a construction contract be executed, then the shipyard will prepare production drawings for their shop employees to fabricate the boat or yacht. These various stages of increasing design detail are often depicted as a design spiral.
