I can't resist jumping in to make an argument for the "old" way - measuring by hand and using a batten to draw the lines. Firstly, hats off to those who have used CAD to generate forms; I wouldn't want to take anything away from that. I guess I just like to see old skills preserved. Call me sentimental but you reach out across history when you use the same methods as a guy in his barn 100 or 200 years ago. Also, there an economy in being able to build a boat with a few numbers on a piece of paper and a stick that, I think, is cool. A full lofting job, which includes a full size drawings of plan and profile on the shop floor was a very fulfilling experience for me. It really helped me visualize all the details of the boat ahead of time and I found some gotchas (on the stems) that probably would have shown up as mistakes.

Again, nothing against technology (I wouldn't want to strip the old way) but there's something about lofting the old fashioned way that I really really enjoy.