A Basque Shipyard Design Method of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries, and its Relationship to Non‐graphic Hull Design of the 15th Century

Abstract

The aim of the article is to show that the Mutiozabal shipyard in Orio, Gipuzkoa, Spain, was using the tools and procedures of non‐graphic hull‐design methods into the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. These procedures allow a hull to be designed with a very simple set of tools: a template of the master‐frame and some simple graduated gauges or graminhos. The plan of a 65‐Burgos‐foot¹ (18.11-m) trading boat is used as the basis of the study. The nature of the templates and graminhos is shown in detail, as well as their use.

Key words:

• non‐graphic design
• rising
• narrowing
• graminho
• hull design

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Brad Loewen, from the University of Montreal, Canada, for suggesting the research that led to writing this article. We are also grateful to Filipe Castro from Texas A&M University, USA, for his positive comments on an early draft of our research. Finally, our thanks to the anonymous reviewer for their comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. The unit of measure used in many of the plans from this collection is the ‘pie de Burgos’, or Burgos foot, which is equivalent to 278.6-mm.

2. Taylor (2006: 52) describes a boatbuilder in Newfoundland who followed a non‐graphic design procedure; he shaped all frames individually throwing them in a pile as he went along. When they were placed on the boat's keel, they required no fairing prior to planking.

3. There is the striking case of a plan showing a trainera—a fishing boat very similar to a gig propelled by oar and sail—that includes the area of the submerged master section to the waterline. The value of this area when multiplied by the appropriate factor (for a naval architect, the prismatic coefficient) and the appropriate main dimensions of the hull would give the displacement.

4. A third group includes plans drafted with a combination of both design methods. All frames are derived from the master‐frame template, but the way of obtaining the shape of each section is totally empirical, by following longitudinally faired diagonals. They are drafted as a modern lines plan, but with just one curve for the transverse sections of the hull. The drafting and fairing of such plans is a very fast procedure, justifying its use for modest fishing hulls.