The Role Of Prototyping

     To fully and reliably develop and tool a new design, particularly one which incorporates any new concepts, it is standard practice and conventional wisdom to construct three finished prototypes of the new design. This allows new ideas to be fully tested, refinements to be made to the design, and tooling, processes, and assembly jigs to be developed and refined. Modern technology and reusable engineering do allow exceptions to this rule, especially when boats of similar configuration are being developed. Indeed, historically , designers of custom yachts would use construction methods that were standardized for all their work; and, such things as hatches, companionways, interior details, hardware, etc., were also standardized. Because each new design was in essence an evolution of the preceding design, changes in yacht design has tended to evolve quite slowly, over many years. Typically, "improvements" in design is measured on the race course, which opens up that whole Pandora's box of rating rules, course selections, and so on. It is in fact remarkable how sailboat design in particular has always suffered in the supposed crucible of competitive sailing.


     I am in general a believer in prototyping new designs, though in practical terms this means building a new design to order for a willing client. And, I am aware of the need to be generally conservative when developing a new design, relying on proven designs as a starting point and making incremental improvements. Once a particular type, and construction method, is established, it is quite easy to develop still new designs directly with benefit of the experience gained from the earlier design. I quite clearly had this experience with the Atlantic 17 and Atlantic 19 open water rowing boat designs, where I built in fact four Atlantic 17's, using #2 as a test bed for new ideas, before arriving at a nicely fine-tuned hull design built on plywood frames that incorporate a structure to take the seat riser, allowing for wide adjustments in crew weight distribution. I was almost disappointed with how easy it was to design the same basic structure for the Atlantic 19. And so, there are very strong arguments for planning on and developing three finished prototypes for a given, uniquely new, design.

     Besides allowing for the development and refinement of hull designs, structure, arrangement, etc., prototyping also allows for the development and refinement of tooling, set-up and assembly jigs, chronologies of assembly, final material lists, photographs and videos, and anything else needed to make the set up and construction of the design as smooth as possible. Working out any "bugs" in the system, economizing on materials, etc., translates to greater economy in material and time costs down the line. And, the opportunity to test and demonstrate a new design is always beneficial.

     For these reasons, a central part of my business plan and model will be to ultimately re-establish a working shop primarily for the purpose of developing prototypes for new designs. The precise logistics of both establishing this shop, and of how prototyping work will be accomplished, is under development, and not in the short-term planning. But it will happen, all in due time.