: When I built my first SOF, I tried to use Morris' rib gauge method and found
: it to be completely useless. I ended up clamping the keelson in place with
: spacer blocks on the deck beams to create the shape I wanted, then bent
: the ribs to fit. I did the same thing on my second and third boat. It just
: seems more sensible to me to define the hull shape - or at least the
: rocker - first, then install ribs to support that shape.

My next SOF is going to be a replica, so the process is kind of irrelevant in that case, but I really like the way that H.C. Petersen sizes the ribs. In his book the design is the result of the process, the process isn't adjusted to fit the design. So in his instructions you size the ribs and bend them in, and they define the shape of the keel and the rocker, and since he uses long ribs in the bow compared to the other authors, it makes it so that the bow trims higher, which offsets how close he places the cockpit (isserfik) toward the center of the frame because there's more flotation in the bow. The only design consideration is then where you place the chines. I think it's pretty slick- I'm going to build one at SOME point. So many boats, so little space in the garage, and the neighbor's garage, and my sister's garage, and...

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