Articles by Dudley Dix Yacht design

DUDLEY DIX YACHT DESIGN

Published Articles - Now in Book Form

To help you through your decisions and problems

"Shaped by Wind & Wave" Paperback US$30

eBook US$20

2012 calendar of our designs US$17

I have authored articles that have been published in magazines worldwide. Most are of a technical nature but are written in laymans' terms. Some will be of use when making decisions about what boat to build and others may help during a construction project. I have consolidated the articles into a book, expanded and updated and with more illustrations.

Some of the original articles have been available here as a free service for a long time. They will continue to be available in their original form. The set of updated articles is now only available in my new book, "Shaped by Wind & Wave". Order from the publisher via the link at left or buy from us for $30 plus shipping.

I have added a chapter with advice for sailing safely around the Cape of Good Hope. This is the sensible alternative to taking on the Somali pirates by sailing the Red Sea route to the Mediterranean Sea. The route around the Southern tip of Africa is dreaded by circumnavigators due to heavy weather conditions. However, local sailors race and cruise those waters in good and bad weather. This chapter gives advice on where and what the dangers are and how to safely traverse those dangers.

Scroll down to access the free articles via the clickable links. The others are only available in the book.

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TRANSLATE

1. TO CATCH THE WIND. A review of sailing rigs, their strengths and weaknesses. This will help to clarify your thinking if you are unsure which sailing rig is best for you.

2. POWER FROM STABILITY. Discusses principles of stability and how it affects performance, safety and other aspects of sailing boats of all types.

3. RUST PREVENTION FOR STEEL BOATS. Brief history of rust prevention measures for steel boats and guidelines to happy ownership of a steel boat.

4. CHOICE OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL. If you are unsure of the best choice of material for you, this will help you to make the decision.

5. LOFTING. A set of three complementary articles on the procedures of lofting a hull from the designer's lines and offsets, including chine and round bilge hulls. LOFTING 1 describes the reasons for and benefits of lofting and gives the basics of lines drawings and offset tables. Lofting 2 explains how to do hull lofting with various methods. Lofting 3 covers how to develop transoms for various combinations of hulls and transoms.

6. RADIUS CHINE STEEL CONSTRUCTION. Describes this method of steel boatbuilding and how it optimises the conflicting needs of aesthetics, ease of construction, cost, performance and resale value.

7. FITTING OUT TIPS. Suggestions to aid fitting out a GRP, metal or wood hull, producing a better quality boat.

8. RUDDERS AND STEERING. Steering systems and configurations for sailboats and how choices will affect handling.

9. PLYWOOD AS A BOAT CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL. Constructing a boat from a largely forgotten hull material. See the more recent article on radius chine plywood as well.

10. HULL SHAPES AND SEAKEEPING. Explains the characteristics and consequences of choices in hull form.

11. ANTHONY STEWARD - AROUND ALONE IN AN OPEN BOAT. Ant Steward is the only person to have sailed around the world in an open boat, a custom version of the TLC 19 designed by Dudley Dix. This is a review of his voyage and his motivations.

12. RADIUS CHINE PLYWOOD CONSTRUCTION. Description of this method of plywood construction as used by Dudley Dix for the DIDI range of designs.

13. HULL TURNING. Describes methods used to turn hulls upright during construction, with diagrams.

14. MINDSET & GOAL SETTING FOR AMATEUR BOATBUILDERS. Run out of steam in the middle of a building project and don't know how to continue? This will help you to get back on track and stay there till the end.

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This page was updated 3 April 2012