Boat Design 101

Carlson Design: Hull 1.8

An Introduction to CAD (Computer Assisted

Design) for the layman and sailor.
Lesson I
Hull 1.8 allows you to
 determine the physical dimensions
 set the weight (displacement) based on your
building material
 pre-choose the general shape from templates
 add panels/chines
 add interior panels
 manually or mechanically cut out panels
What Hull 1.8 will do for you
 calculate panel dimensions
 calculate hull volume
 calculate hull center of mass
 calculate center of buoyancy
 calculate righting moment
 scale the hull to human dimensions
 output panel dimensions to .dxf or plotter

 and help you develop an eye for hull shape!

 What you need
 A PC running Windows 98, 2000 or XP
 128 megabytes of RAM
 10 megabytes of hard drive space
 Hulls.exe (free download and install)
 vbrun300.dll (free download and install)
 a simple b&w printer
 time, patience, and a designer’s eye!
 Let’s get started!
 http://www.carlsondesign.com
 download the Hulls software.
 store on desktop
 unzip and install to C://program files/Hulls
 download the vbrun300.dll
 store on desktop
 unzip to C://WINNT/System32
 restart PC
 Open the program
Navigate to
C://program
files/Hulls/hulls.exe

Open the
application by
double-clicking

Close the copyright

window.
 Choose a Hull Template
 File pull-down menu
 click on “new”
 find the hull templates
on the left
 pick the 13 foot skiff

 Do NOT click on the

“Done” button!
The Main Working Screen

 Views: Main, X, Y
and Z (3-D)
 number of chines

 This is where you

will add chines
and change
shapes
 Manipulate a Panel

Watch how the objects changes in the X,Y and Z view panes
as you manipulate the panel definition point.
Experiment with
changing panels

Activity: 15 minutes
Use your mouse to change the shapes of the
various panel definition points and learn how
changes are reflected in the X, Y and Z panes.
Rotate the Main View
 Visualize your
shape in
different
dimensions

 Use the X, Y
and Z buttons to
rotate your
shape in 3-D
space
 Changing the number of
panels/chines

“Chines” are the joints between panels. Reducing the

number of chines also reduces the number of panels.
 Add back the chine
you took away in
Add Chines/Panels
the last exercise.
(Return to 5 chines)
 It appears in the
old orientation.

 When you add

more panels/chines
they may not
appear in a
spatially “sensible”
manner

Activity: 15 minutes… manipulate your added chine/panel

with your mouse until the overall shape is smooth.
 Save Your Work
 Name your
design! Do not
just save it!

 Enter in your
personal
information if you
want

 Choose folder to
Next Week: defining interior save into. (does
panels, displacement, and not have CD-writing
righting moment. capability)