Who knew these guys were funny? Smart yes, but funny?
It’s the mysteries of our hulls that draw us to them. One moment, you’re on dry land unacknowledged by an uncaring terra firma. The next, you’re aboard. And part of the running conversation between you, the sea, and the hull that floats on that sea.
Not all hulls use the same vocabulary. Agro, tippy skiffs seem to threaten with a techno hull-speak of planing, surfing and foiling. And more stately yachts, like our plush 90-foot ketch Bequia, practically bow to those who wander her decks with a hushed language of soft entry, high freeboard and tons of reserve buoyancy.
To get a better feel for the nautical etymology of hulls, we thought we would take a deep boat-nerd dive into one of our more ambitious, if understated, hull projects: The hydro-dynamic form for the Bluewater 56, part of our growing efforts in serving the production yacht sector.
Production boats are unique design challenges: You work a plan to build in series, and position the product in a very crowded field. So it pays to invest the resources to engineer every single last inch of the design from the start. The goal with the Bluewater was to freshen up the shorthanded global cruising market that built so many storied yachting brands, like Morris Yachts, (just acquired by Hinckley Yachts), Tartan Yachts, or Pacific Seacraft, as well major international brands like Nautor Swan, Baltic, Southerly, Oyster and many others. All these established production makers are based on a consistent approach to hull form. So as designers, if we wanted to play in this market — and not look foolish — we most definitely wanted to conduct our due-diligence in designing that hull.
Our argument for Bluewater in the high-end niche production yachts is a robust, stable hull that fits the role of an ocean worthy classic. But is engineered with some sophisticated subtlety to tell an absolute cutting edge story of wholesome, yet high tech technologies.
That innovation starts with length: Big or small, fat or skinny, multi or mono, when it comes to hulls, it is the marvelous concept of longness that matters. Why? Water is do dang sticky. So sticky in fact, that the tiny little layer of the stuff, right there near the skin of your boat never ever moves. – Read on.
