"This book is intended to be a practical and concise presentation of some of the operations involved in designing yachts of all types. Cumbersome and impractical methods which are so often found in more pretentious works on naval architecture have been avoided. Those presented have been in everyday use by the author." Thus wrote Norman L. Skene in the preface to the fifth edition of Elements of Yacht Design. Skene's is one of the most famous books on yacht design ever written. First published in 1904, Skene did several revisions, the last of which was published in 1938 and is reprinted here in its original form. In 1962, the book was completely revised by Francis S. Kinney and republished as Skene's Elements of Yacht Design. Kinney's last version was in 1973 and it is long out of print. While the experts are divided on the relative merits of the different editions, it appears that there is strong demand for Skene's original work. At last the book is again available to the many boatbuilders, aspiring naval architects, and sailors who need it for frequent reference. The index has been completely revised and expanded to make it more useful for today's readers.

The author aims to give 'a concise and practical presentation of the processes involved in designing a modern yacht'.... so that the operations can be grasped by men without a technical education. ...There are chapters on displacement, the lateral plane, design, stability, ballast, the sail plan, and construction. A thirty-foot cruiser is made the basis of the calculations, and a number of tables is appended to abridge the figuring of important details. The book is illustrated with numerous outline drawings and plates. The book will undoubtedly be serviceable to everyone interested in the subject and possessed of enough technical knowledge to understand it. -N. Y. Times

Reprint of the original, first published in 1904.