how much would it be? (design cost for 40' boat)

[boatenthusiast]

to get a boat 40 or so feet desighned and to the point i can get a builder to build it? im thinking 10-15 k is that off by much? also if u can recomend me a boat desighner i can start talking to that would be neat.

 

[Richard Woods]

is it power or sail? race or cruise? home build or professional? how many hulls? to code?

Is "k" Canadian dollars, British pounds sterling or???

RW

 

[boatenthusiast]

is it power or sail? race or cruise? home build or professional? how many hulls? to code?

Is "k" Canadian dollars, British pounds sterling or???

RW

power or sail : both

race or cruise : cruiser

home build or professional : professional

currency : canadian dollars

how many hulls : 1

to code : yes

 

[JSL]

The boat
A quick method for a 'ball park' figure on the lowest price you might ever achieve
a) Buy a yachting magazine (Canadian Yachting, etc)
b) Look in the classifieds- find what you like
c) Get the price
or
Phone a boat sales and ask

For the design, it depends on how involved the designer is (on site review, plan rights, etc) but you could figure on at least 5% of the boat's value for a custom design.

 

[philSweet]

And it's a bit more difficult than what a realtor does.

 

[Richard Woods]

I'd email Tad Roberts. He can design you a nice boat

RW

 

[FAST FRED]

What special , particular requirement do you have that requires a custom build?

 

[Tad]

Thank you Richard for the reference.

And I would first note what Fred said.....There are thousands of existing designs in the world now, stock plans available at a fraction the cost of new custom design. Consider finding one that's close to what you require, and then having it modified to suit, either by the original designer(best), or some other qualified individual.

Cost should not be the main factor in choosing a designer, though it often seems to be. Better to choose a designer who you can communicate with, who is familiar with the style and construction method you require, and best of all a designer familiar with your chosen builder.

As to design fees, it can vary wildly, depending on who the designer is and how much work he does. $10-15k would about the minimum fee in North America, $35-40k for a well known higher end design office, and on up for "superstar" designers. At the bottom end it will cost $1200-1500.00 for each drawing, a fourty-footer might be covered in 8-10 sheets, and a sailing rig or centerboard will be more.

The design fee is a small fraction of the overall cost, yet it will go a long way in establishing the finished and lifetime value of the boat. More or less you get what you pay for. If you buy a custom design from Bruce Roberts or George Buehler it will have a very different value than if you buy a design from Bruce Farr or Ron Holland.

 

[rwatson]

Good luck with the plan.Getting competant designers attention is tricky. Best approach is to find an existing plan close to your needs, and then asking its designer to do a modification.

If you can get custom a design (from scratch) under $US15,000, you would be on a good thing.

 

[Skyak]

power or sail : both

race or cruise : cruiser

home build or professional : professional

currency : canadian dollars

how many hulls : 1

to code : yes

The professionals here are steering you strait with regard to their services. The one point I will add is that there is substantial value in the relationship between the builder and the designer. The respect and working relationship they have with each other can be worth a significant portion of the project price -particularly the quoted price as it saves on uncertainty.

If you have one in mind, ask their prefferences about the other.

 

[Eric Sponberg]

In my case, I usually start my design fees at US$1,000 per foot. So for a 40' boat, you're looking at a minimum of US$40,000. I'd probably up that a bit to US$50,000 depending on the level of detail involved. For larger designs, they get more complicated and the number of drawings and the cost go up exponentially. I did a mid-60' design a few years ago that was a fee of US$120,000 for 112 drawings. My drawings tend to go for about $3,000 apiece when I am doing short jobs, although interestingly, for a whole design, the cost per hour and the cost per plan go down. It is more important to go for a fixed design fee and provide the drawings and attention to detail that the client needs. At 40', I'd estimate that there would be about 15-20 drawings.

Not that I am looking for the work--I am retiring soon and have stopped accepting new design work since I am busy enough through to the end of the year when my retirement becomes official. If you are really serious about a new boat design, send me a private message and I will refer you to the person who is taking over my design work.

I hope that gives you and everyone else a good estimating point for professional design.

Eric

 

[FAST FRED]

Now that the pros have spoken, what is your specific requirements that one of the thousands of boats built in the past 75 years wont have?

 

[rwatson]

Now that the pros have spoken, what is your specific requirements that one of the thousands of boats built in the past 75 years wont have?

Don't worry. You only have to want the slightest variation from an existing design to incur lots of expensive professional advice.