MEET THE DESIGNER

Hello!

The Designer

I describe myself as a Yacht Architect, rather than a Yacht Designer or Naval Architect.  Note that the term 'Architect' does not , in itself, imply any qualification. It simply means 'he who creates, or designs'. 

Whilst it is true that Yacht Architects are yacht designers by definition, it is not always true that Yacht Designers have any formal qualification in their art. 

Naval (def.: to do with ships) Architecture is the basis of standard university based marine design courses.  While the basic science is the same, there is a world of difference between ship design and yacht design,  Whilst I am legally entitled to call myself a Naval Architect, I prefer not to. My training is specifically in small boat and yacht design, and not ship architecture. 

I qualified as a Yacht Architect from the Westlawn Institute, in the United States of America. This college specializes in training designers for small craft, or 'yachts' (yacht being defined as a  pleasure craft, power or sail, less than 100 ft in length.)  Established in 1930, Westlawn Institute is a nationally accredited and state approved training fascility for small craft design in the United States of America.

Westlawn specializes in small boat design, taught not by lecturers, but by successful small boat designers, and is arguably the most respected facility of its kind in the world, having produced some of the worlds leading Yacht Architects, ranging from designers of small traditional boats such as 'sharpies' to America's Cup contenders and luxury super yachts. The current Dean of Westlawn is successful designer David Gerr, the creator of the Gerr Scantling System and the Gerr Propellor Charts, which are used today by hundreds of designers around the world. 

I am also a member of  SNAME (the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers). An Australian by birth, I have designed professionally since 1987, and on an amateur basis for considerably longer.

My personal involvement with boats began as a child when my father took me out on fishing boats on the East coast of Tasmania. I was hooked from that time. I profess to a biased preference for sail, and have sailed on numerous different types of sailing craft over the years, ranging from small sailing dingys such as Rainbows, Gwens Moths, Fireballs, and small surf cats and Mosquitos, up to large ocean racing and cruising yachts. I have built several vessels of varying type myself, including vessels of my own design. 

The Business

In the past, much of the focus of the business has been in custom design, but also providing a small (but growing) range of small boat stock plans for amateur builders. Designs on this site are mainly timber or timber / glass composite, with the majority of vessels in plywood. Mike Waller Yacht Design will also design for other materials, however our priority is to design low cost vessels using materials that are within the financial reach of most amateur builders.

In the future our focus will be to concentrate on stock designs, utilizing the less expensive construction materials such as plywood and timber where possible. Our objective will be specifically to provide low cost plans for budget boat building. This is in response to the increasing expense of boat building for the amateur.

Happy Building! 
Mike Waller.