Plywright is boat design software for people building their own boats. Start with the boat you have in mind, develop it into a coherent design, and work toward something you can actually build.
Plywright gives home builders a way to develop an idea into a coherent boat design while working in terms that make sense to boat builders.
A transom stays a transom.
A bulkhead stays a bulkhead.
Plywright keeps track of what the geometry means.
In Plywright, the boat remains the source of truth. Models, drawings, calculations, parts and exchange formats are projections of the same underlying design, so a change to the boat can propagate through the representations derived from it.
Change the boat once. The rest should follow.
Plywright combines direct manipulation with a design assistant. Both work on the same persistent boat.
Begin with intent rather than geometry. Tell Plywright what sort of boat you are trying to make and what matters about it.
Work with hull, structure and arrangement directly, in terms the design itself understands.
Move the console. Widen the beam. Change the deadrise. Change the construction. Drag something yourself or ask the assistant to do it.
Either way, the change lands on the same persistent boat, and the next change builds on it.
The destination is a design coherent enough to produce useful information for construction.
Plywright works in the language of boats and boatbuilding: hulls, transoms, bulkheads, structure, arrangement and construction.
It is built for people developing boats at a scale they can realistically design, modify and build themselves.
Hull structure, arrangement and construction remain part of the same persistent design as you work.
The assistant can operate on the design in the same language you might use with another boat builder.
The design outlives the conversation. The boat remains persistent, inspectable and directly editable whether a change came from you or from the assistant.
Move the console aft about a foot and tell me what that does to trim.
Console moved aft 12 inches. Because the console has modeled mass, that shifts the boat’s longitudinal center of gravity aft. I can recalculate the current trim estimate and show the revised arrangement.
Show me the arrangement. I’ll adjust it myself.
Progress will be published here as it becomes real: hulls generated by the engine, drawings produced from them, and the design decisions in between.
The OBP2 kernel and the first Plywright boats are in active development.
Updates arrive when there is real progress to show: a hull from the engine, drawings produced from it, or a design decision worth explaining.
Development updates are coming soon.