A level design project , help please

[Guest]

Hello,
i am presently about to undertake my second year design project at Truro school in cornwall. i myself live in Falmouth and have sailed now for close to 3 and a half years every weekend on a moody S31. I've also completed the RYA Dayskipper and am about to soon start the yachtmaster offshore. Sailing is my biggest passion in life , so i thought what better to do for my A level project than something aimed at the marine and yachting environment.
My problem is finding a suitable project. After much brain storming i have come up with very little areas that need development or are not provided for altogether.
So i would be extremely appreciative of some help on suggestions , any problems you your self find or ideas.
Thankyou very much for your time ,
Matthew.

 

[rogerroger]

You've obviously not had enough pints during your brain storming ...

a few spring to mind.

1) safe / easy way of getting outboard from tender to boat (and the reverse)

2) a good way of towing a tender with little drag.

3) something to help in case of a winch with a riding turn under load.

4) easy way to flake a sail

5) a good way of clearing a fouled prop

er, will probably think of a few more after a weekend on the water!



Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[ParaHandy]

Give us a clue...whats your area of interest: marine environment (eg erosion at Lymington), engineering (huge range), boat construction (eg use of stranded mat), yacht design, safety equipment...

 

[Twister_Ken]

Spring-loaded anchor winch (dropping the hook winds the spring up, pressing a button releases the spring and whizzes the anchor back up again).

Electronic sextant (point the thing at the sun/horizon and an embedded clock/computer/set of tables prints out a lat and long (great back-up for when GPS is switched off)

A way of securing a dinghy (hard or soft) to a mooring so that it can't nicked by the light-fingered ones.

Solar powered outboard motor.

A cooker that doesn't carry an inherent risk of fire or explosion.

 

[Joe_Cole]

How about a powerboat that doesn't create wash?

Joe

 

[davidhand]

How about a comparative analysis of a keel stepped mast versus a deck stepped mast. Both from a structural viewpoint and from the perspective of sail trimming. When I see some of Bill Dixons designs with just a deck stepped mast it fair makes my fundamental pucker.

 

[claymore]

I've always thought an emergency tiller that folded up - something along the lines of a topper tiller with full adjustability that could be stuck to a transom by suction pads would be a really nifty get you home device.
Perhaps you need to think along the lines of improving or developing something which exists rather than trying to come up with a yet to be thought of device. You will be time constrained so you need to think about action planning your design, build, testing and then your write-up and conclusions. Digital camera would be useful to record your progress and import the pictures into your written work.
Recording the process steps is as important as design and implementation.

regards
Claymore

 

[Joe_Cole]

Two more to think about.

1. A man over board recovery system. There are lots around but none seem to be ideal

2. A lifebuoy set up that doesn't need all the separate components (the lifebuoy, light, danbuoy and drogue) all tied together with bits a rope. It has always seemed a clumsy set up to me. Surely the light could be part of the danbuoy and the danbuoy could in turn be an integral part of the lifebuoy. I suppose the drogue would need to be separate.

Joe Cole

 

[Joe_Cole]

Thinking about it (the lifebuoy set up) I imagine that even the drogue could be part of the lifebuoy as well. I think that they have pockets on liferafts which fill with water and stabilise things.

Only a thought.


Joe

 

[neptune1]

From the point of view of a professional engineer in the marine industry, try and look at the problem slightly differently- not what can you design, but what can you learn? For example, we all have an idea in our heads of our dream boat. Can you sketch it out, work out what it displaces, what the drag will be and how big the engine should be? Have a look at www.rina.org.uk, they seem to be smart, and ask them for advice - push your limits and the examiner will be more impressed!

 

[Guest]

When scrubbing the waterline from a dinghy, there is always the problem of pushing yourself away from the boat with the force you are trying to apply to the brush. Some kind of harness that you could wear, latched on to the gunwale? Maybe a clip that you could attach to the end of a life line harness that would attach to stanchion?

 

[Guest]

Riding turns

Ah, rogerroger, m'dear - you are perhaps not of an age to have experienced the old Yachtmaster scheme when the old Department of Trade still had a hand in it. Then you would have had to learn how to "pass a stopper." Sounds painful, doesn't it?

 

[Guest]

Thankyou to everyone for there help,
i still haven't come to a final conclusion yet as to what to do, so any more ideas after the weekend sail that have come to light would still help greatly.
At the moment some of the ideas that i am considering is the problem of getting an outboard from the back of a dinghy onto the yacht safely without endangering the outboard or my dry clothes! especially in choppy conditions.
i have had several thoughts on anchor configurations and 'all in one lifejackets ' .
Your thoughts though on this problem of getting the outboard off an inflatable and onto a yacht , would you buy such a product ? do you commonly encounter this problem ? As well as any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

matt.

 

[Guest]

Something that I have been thinking about now and again is uses for a ladder on a yacht. Some thoughts:

1. Long enough to be stored accross the stern to form a bench seat (with infill) between the pushpit side rails.

2. As a boarding ladder that reaches well below the water surface to aid in MOB recovery.

3. Can be used as a gangplank (with infill)

4. Hung between fenders when mooring against piles etc.

5. Attach to shrouds to form ratlines to aid in pilotage/retrieving halyards.

A simple idea but a design to fulfill multiple uses is the key. Can be marketed farly easily, and a reasonable cost.

 

[extravert]

Two improvements that could be made to navigation lights...

1) A reasonably priced one that does not leak.

2) For inaccessible lights (ie masthead) a spare bulb and a circuit that automatically switches to the spare when the main fails. Also some means of being able to tell from the deck that the main bulb has failed, like a downwards shining LED. No extra cables to the light allowed though.