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Rating:  -
I bought and read this book first, then bought and read most of the boatbuilding books on the current market over the last five years. This book clearly provided a trusted foundation for many of the others. Six decades later it is still an extremely useful and trusted foundation that probably should form the core of a very serious boatbuilder's library. Although fiberglass and epoxy have transformed amateur boatbuilding, this is still the 'go to' book for many fundamentals like lofting. Get this book and supplement it with others more specifically focused on the particular type of boat you want would be excellent advice.
It is worth noting that this book contains sets of plans for a range of boats that would cost many times what the book sells for if boought separately. With this,his "American Small Sailing Craft" (lines plans and tables of offsets for traditional craft), John Gardner's books (lines and offsets for classics such as dories, peapods and whitehalls with building procedures) and "The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction" (for fiberglass work)one would have a championship foundation library, already stocked with a wealth of plans for solid, beautiful boats.
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this one is simple. if you work or are interested in old school wood boats,,then you must have this book on your shelf.
thats it
~R~
Rating:  -
Don't let my three star rating turn you away from this book. It is well written, complete in every sense of the word and well illustrated. I gave it three stars because I found other books on this subject to be more readable and easier to use as a guide and reference. This is a text book style work and it has a great place in all the books on boatbuilding. It is a fine work, but then, I must ask you, how many fine books can there be? What if I said that this was yet another fine boat building book...then what? This book makes a wonderful reference. It makes an excellent text book. It is useful if you have more than two people working on a hull (one to read aloud and the other to work). But it is not an easy, cook book on boat building. I recommend it, But there are other books out there that are better sources of information for the home builder.
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I agree with the other (positive) reviewers--not an easy read, but well worth the investment in time. My favorite part of the book, though, has not been mentioned. Mr. Chapelle includes a number of sample designs--wonderful classics from a rowing peapod to a large commercial fishing boat. If you have some solid boat building experience, the plans are complete enough to build from, with a little eyestrain. For historical purposes, these designs complement those in American Small Sailing Craft, another worthwhile book by H.I. Chapelle. There is also an interesting, though too brief, section on choosing a design.
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Pure and simple.
I'm a professional, doing repairs on wooden workboats and I do refer to it whenever I'm stumped. Not the easiest read, not completely user-friendly.....well, I'll let you in on a little secret; neither is boatbuilding.
Some have whinged about the terms, some have groused about the old-style construction methods. Well, there are certain terms that are used for certain things and you are not knowledgeable unless you can use and understand them. Learning them is part of learning the trade. Study!
Tremendous detail, wide variety of different methods covered. Chapelle was a NA/ME and a skilled designer in his own right and it too shows. Highly recommended.
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