Being a mechanical and electrical engineer, I can understand the benefits and challenges associated wtih desiging a boat starting with numbers and theory. However, what I can't seem to grasp, is why you guys keep pooping on the backyard builder that wants to design a hull that starts with being pleasing to the eye and the builder's ideas. All that this thread was about was some folks getting together to exchange ideas, learn a little on the way, and maybe build a boat. Our world would be a worse place if it weren't for the back yard builders who are desiging from an alternative perspective to the extremely technical one. Did Hobie Sr. know everything about the proper relationships between the speed and hull length ratios and the prismatic coefficient when the first Hobie 14 was built? (I really don't know the answer to that but I suspect it's "no" ).