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Celebrating Twelve Years Online
Home | Intro |
Custom Yacht Design |
Articles | Design Team
| News |
Prototype Yacht Designs
by Kasten Marine Design, Inc.
Copyright 2000 - 2009 Michael Kasten
What's a "prototype" anyway...? The Prototype designs in the links below are design concepts, each of which has excellent merit for further development. Several of our prototypes or 'concept' designs were originally created as preliminary design studies for various clients in order to address their differing requests. Others are our own ideas for new designs. All of the designs listed below have been fully developed as computer generated models in order to determine the styling, hydrostatics, performance, layout, preliminary structure, etc. These prototypes represent the first stage of developing a new design. Once we have understood the requirements for the interior and exterior spaces (via a 'napkin sketch' or general description) and the general vessel type, we will then create a surface model of the design on the computer. The computer generated model provides a preliminary set of lines. This becomes the 'envelope' within which we can develop a more accurate preliminary interior layout and it gives us an accurate preliminary look at the vessel's hydrostatics. At the prototype stage the design is still 'preliminary.' In other words, a myriad of decisions, analyses and drawings must still be made in order to further develop the design, each one of which may impact the final shape given. A distinct advantage of having created a digital model of the vessel is that it can be easily changed / adapted as needed to a newly defined purpose, layout, size, or whatever other requirements may be imposed. A In other words, at this stage of development the shape of the model can be freely modified as needed and at each iteration of the model an accurate 3D preview of the design and its hydrostatics are available. This allows each version of the design to be optimized right from the start, aesthetically, functionally and behaviorally. At the prototype stage, Study Plans per-se have ordinarily not yet been created, although in some cases there may be preliminary sketches available wherever noted. In a few cases there may also be more formal drawings of the intended accommodation, styling, rig, etc. If these prototypes are not finished designs, then what's the point of looking at them...? Inspiration...! One of the first hurdles we encounter when starting any new design is to communicate the notion that we can indeed start from a blank sheet of paper - but if that is too intimidating we can start with an inspiring prototype. Either way our aim is to end up with a design solution that meets the requirements that have been presented. These prototype designs are presented in way of inspiration and to provide a bridge over the 'blank sheet' syndrome. Any one of these prototypes can be re-configured to suit a different purpose or size or layout. Alternately, any one of them can be developed as-is into a completed design. For more information about this process, please see our various Design Articles. In particular our article on Custom Design will be helpful in order to understand how we go about generating an entirely new design. If you'd like more information on any of the prototypes below, please inquire. Please see our prototype designs, arranged by category on the following two web pages:
Study Sketches or Other Drawings...?Preliminary Design Study Sketches are available for some of our prototype designs. If you'd like to know more about further development of one of our prototypes please contact me by email. A thorough introduction to that process can be found on our Custom Design page.
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