Preview: What Makes Classic Boats So Beautiful, with Maynard Bray – Part 1 – Sheerlines

22 Responses So Far to “What Makes Classic Boats So Beautiful, with Maynard Bray – Part 1 – Sheerlines”

• 

  John Wujack says:

  Eric’s comment about walking around a boat’s changing sheer is best demonstrated by watching the trawler Pacifica’s profile as she glides by. Keep your eye on the sheer (near the bow) and watch as it changes from reverse to flat to upswept. Slow motion magic.

• 

  james sterling says:

  how would you consider cy hamlin’s controversy 36′ reverse sheer?

  /Users/jsa/Desktop/controversy 36 .png

  • 

    Maynard Bray says:

    To each his or her own, but to me a reverse sheer looks like a scowl (aka unhappy) compared to a conventional sheer which reminds me of a smile. And somehow, having the bow highest seems inherently logical since this part of the boat first meets the waves.

    • 

      james sterling says:

      /Users/jsa/Desktop/reverse.jpeg…to me a fluid smile!

      in the encyclopedia of yacht designers there is a good essay on cy hamlin’s design
      program, a very 50’s experiment which is not traditionalist/orthodox but has a place in boat
      design…re:chappell’s notion of evolution of sailing vessels…

      • 

        David and Margaret Tew says:

        Some of my earliest cruising experiences were aboard Controversys and Amphibicons; our family chartered the original 30′ CONTROVERSY out of Farnum Butler’s yard when I was about five. It was a sloop with the bow cockpit that made life aboard very safe and entertaining for us five children. My dad subsequently purchased two Amphibicons as ‘kits’, i.e., hull, cabin and rig provided, to be fitted out by the owner. We did so in our driveway in winter. We sailed them from Nantucket Sound to Block Island to Mt Desert and back each summer back when corporate execs had four to six week vacations in the summer and took the time off without guilt. The designs were roomy for the size but yes, admittedly not the most attractive but Dad was a ‘function more than form’ kind of guy.

• 

  Charles Haines says:

  Didn’t L Francis note that an uninteresting line is one with a constant rate of change, for example, a straight line but also, and more relevant, a circle. The rate of change has to change, and even then, not in a regular way (say a parabolic curve). The curve of a beautiful sheer should transcend mathematical regularity and be a bit of art produced by eye. But at the next level, the plan view comes into play. As soon as a boat heels, the perfect-looking curve on the drawing gets thrown into a different plane; a tortured plan view results in a distorted sheer. The best designers produced beautiful curves that showed well from many viewpoints.

• 

  Lauren Williams says:

  This is why I love yacht and aircraft designing as avocations. Mixing computational involvement with artistic and historic sensitivity is a great opportunity to exercise discipline and mental acuity. The mindfulness necessary to keep a hull shape foremost when doing two dimensional drawings, sheer plan to body plan to waterline and diagonals plan is great fun. Those of you who haven’t tried it, should. Steve and Maynard haven’t talked about sail plans yet, but they will and sail plans provide a great field for exploration which must agree with the hull shape you’ve drawn. You might discover here-to-fore hidden talents. Possibilities are endless. Start out freehand on a 9 by 12 Strathmore drawing tablet with an architect’s triangular rule for straight lines and scaling and a yellow #2 Ticonderoga pencil like we used in school with an eraser on the end. (Buy a box of 12 and throw out the pencils when the eraser wears out.) There will always be room for more beautiful boats. The ocean isn’t full yet.

• 

  David Mitchell says:

  What they are talking about re the shear line and much more is why to me I love classically designed boats and they don’t have to be even wooden, but rather have lines and proportions that look right. It’s equally why I can’t stand the look of modern boats, let alone modern race boats. To me they have lost that critical design factor purely on the basis of wanting speed. It’s why, even if I could afford one, I would never remotely consider buying a modern production boat.

• 

  Dave Dickmeyer says:

  I so loved this video. As I was building my dinghy I fussed and fussed over that line. I’m just hoping I did it correctly and hopefully I’ll be launching her in late June. I’ll send you photos then for a critique!
  As always, thanks for what you do!

• 

  Diane Pool says:

  When we were building PILAR,one of the first implimentations that Bill’s years of studying beautiful old boats was to lay a batton along the the top edge of the parallel sided fiberglass sheer and taper the height down by a mere 1/2″ just abaft the beam, from stem to stern. Such an infitestimal amount over 37′, but what the eye can’t measure the unconscious sees, and is gratified.

• 

  Peter Gossell says:

  Thanks, for the Sheer joy. There is plenty of examples to enjoy from The Wooden Boat Calandars.

• 

  John Supan says:

  Eric & Maynard’s conversations are a joy to listen to and may help explain why I get so smitten over some boats so quickly.

• 

  David Tew says:

  I just finished watching Doug Hylan and Tom Townsend discussing the design, rebuilding and maintenance of the sardine carrier turned private yacht, Grayling. The lines of her sheer with the raised deck, cove stripe and guard rail, filigree at the bow, paint scheme and color treatments are so well thought out and proper. Congratulations. Not an easy challenge to meet.

• 

  Peter Strock says:

  A sense of beauty is given mysteriously to a few: some of whom can express it in their work or even their lives. It has to due with being in a state of ‘grace’ and can be recognized but not commanded. And it is subtley impressed on us by our culture, as with Euclid’s Golden Proportion.

  Herreshoff, N.G. and L. Francis, had it. from an H-12 1/2 to Ticonderogia and a lot in between. And other designers as well. Still, people recognize the result with out being able to define it. It is bigger than the object. Sail thru a harbor in a 12 1/2 and collect the accolades: “what a lovely boat” from from those in boats of all sizes and configurations.

  It seems to occur when one encounters physically what seems a beautiful concept. Michelango’s David, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lincoln ‘s Gettysburg Address, Jefferson’s Monticello, the Venus De Milo.
  ***********************************
  The good life [beauty, harmony,gracefulness] which most desire is a life warmed by passions and touched by that ceremonial grace which is impossible without some affectionate loyalty to traditional forms and ceremonies.

  Joseph Wood Krutch,in Ignoble Utopias.

• 

  Steven Dews says:

  These yachts all have what is called that “row away” factor!….

  …listening to these guys explaining that is sheer poetry too!

• 

  Burke Horner says:

  You two sailor’s remind me of salt and pepper, more like “Old Salt” and pepper! A perfect combination!

• 

  Jan Cope says:

  Thanks for all the love and appreciation provided for the love of old wooden boats. It draws me in
  each time.

• 

  Bertram Levy says:

  For my money, the key to a well designed sheer line is that it gives the impression that the boat is moving forward when it is sitting at a mooring.

• 

  Theodore Gentsch says:

  Love hearing from Maynard! He’s a treasure as much as the boats he brings forward in our consciousness!

• 

  Tom Keefe says:

  Just as in architecture, there are certain lines, curves, shapes that draw the eye and are pleasing to see – even if the viewer has no training, no vocabulary to explain what it is that looks and feels so right. I showed kids pictures of a snug “Cape Cod” style house and a raised ranch; they always preferred the Cape. Same thing with a Herreshoff boat or a Concordia yawl.
  And you can hear it in Maynard’s voice…

• 

  Richard Holliday says:

  Great fun………..never tire of it.

  Dick Holliday

• 

  Jonathan Lewis says:

  Sheer pleasure. Thanks.