Hullform

Hullform is a practical tool for the users who need to create hull designs for ships and sailing boats. The program is designed to create a basic hull model and to optimize its shape in order to provide you with a viable solution.

When creating a new project you have the option to specify the boat parameters such as the maximum beam length, stem rake and overall size. You can edit each section of the model and insert new sections from the main menu.

In order to finetune the shape and performance you can edit lines, smooth the angles and adjust the lateral offset. The program does not allow you to use the mouse cursor in order to adjust the line position which can be difficult for some users but provides higher accuracy.

In order to analyze the boat hull, the application provides you with multiple statistics about the immersed areas, hull balance and displaced volume. Moreover, it can generate plots for drag speed and hull area.

The application can handle catamaran designs and allows you to take into consideration the placement of fuel tanks and their hydrographic properties. This allows you to estimate the height of the liquid surface based on the tank level.

You can use this tool to launch additional programs directly from the main menu. You just need to add the application in the Run menu and specify the command line arguments. Thus, you can use other calculators or sketch tools that are required for the hull design.

Since the hull properties need to be used for producing the hull, the app allows you to export the model to DXF files. You can also export the waterlines and details for each section as a text file.

Although Hullform includes an extensive documentation that explains every menu option in great detail it requires previous experience in boat hull design in order to use its features.