Re: Creating a hull from a general arrangement only?

[Peter Edmonds]

Beware the General Arrangement

General Arrangements have varying degrees of reliability. Treat what you see with caution, in the context of what you are trying to do. Every design has to start its process of definition, development and refinement somewhere.

Some years ago on a client supplied GA for a dredge, there was insufficient room to fit the nominated furniture into a compartment, unless we used kindergarten size furniture. Fortunately we picked this up in time, and were able to widen the deckhouse.

Hull shapes, particularly below the sheet line, can be unreliable. I recollect the case in a patrol boat GA where a WC was positioned partly outside the local shell – lack of understanding by the drafty concerned.

Another instance, not involving the space, was the engine room for a 17 m research vessel being provided with neither access hatch nor underdeck bulkhead access door. As it turned out, this design was not built, and an existing vessel converted instead.