For the past couple weeks I've been talking to some designers about designing an F14 to be built in plywood. I would pay for the initial plans and buy the right to post them to the internet for all. That idea didn't go over to well, as they wanted to keep the rights to themselves and sell the plans individually.

So I'm back to designing the boat "myself". I can't figure out the Hullform program for anything, so I figure I'd go with good old paper and pencil.

I would like to build the hulls via the "cylinder mold" method. I believe this method will be faster and cheaper, and enable builders to tinker and tweak more. I would like to make a small change, however, in that the entire hull (minus deck) be laid up at the same time. "V" cuts made in the bow and stern sections of the bottom would help determine the shape of the boat (this instead of building in port/starboard sides). The "V"s would be "stitch and glued" to pull the sides in and form the rocker of the keel.

I think I can work out the construction details once I'm certain of the basic design. So... on to the basics. Remember this is for the "ideal crew weight" of 150lbs.

Hull height: How tall are they going to be? From the bow to the stern, would probably need about 4 locations of height if we weren't getting to fancy

Max. hull width: I'd like to go with 1', as it still gives a 14:1 fineness ratio and makes bending the plywood easier.

Location of max hull width: where does the hull attain it's maximum width? Where does this end? I'd imagine on a 14' boat it has to get wide pretty quick. But you don't want a foot-wide transom either, so where does it start to get skinny again?

Rocker: how much rocker at the bow, how much at the stern, where does it begin, etc. Measurements from the middle of the hull. I hear rocker is to increase maneuverability in waves, but how much is necessary?

What else do we really need for basic hull design? Can't the location of the beams, daggerboard-case, etc. be determined later? They can certainly be changed by whoever is building the boat.