Each plan fee includes two complete sets of plans, specifications (written at the time of the design, if not included on the drawings), and any comments Al may have made in response to construction inquiries.
A Few Words About A. Mason Yacht Design Plans
It was Al Mason's practice in later years to prepare more detailed plans than was customary in his early days. It's hard to say if this was due to the designer placing less reliance on the experience of today's boat builder, or to the greater complexity of contemporary boats, or both.
Further, the demise of many marine hardware firms (with the loss of many stock fittings) has led to the increased design of custom hardware. Some designs originally had brief specifications because they were not intended for amateur construction. In addition, when some of the designs were prepared, it was not necessary to make details of the rigging fittings as they were common off-the-shelf items being mainly galvanized forged ironwork as mast bands, gaff-throat fittings, goosenecks, etc.
Al also ceased to prepare details for aluminum spars as he had found that the better spar-makers could furnish very satisfactory spars using their own standard details at much less cost than a custom spar from his design. Al additionally discovered that a complete set of spars, with fittings, would cost less than fabricating the metal spar fittings for wood spars.
Al's plans were comprehensive. Scantlings given are the recommended maximum, being in excess of the Nevins, Lloyds, and Herreshoff scantling rules. Amateur builders are strongly urged not to increase scantlings as this may produce a heavier boat and a distinct loss of performance.
Al's policy throughout his career was to prepare as few drawings as possible to be the most practical plans for shop use. As a result, his drawings often covered more than one the following items on a single drawing in the format normally supplied to a
shipyard:
Construction has been kept as simple as possible to adopt to local materials and conventional boat building practices to keep down the initial building costs, but in no way has cheapness of construction been placed ahead of staunchness and the ability to go to sea and remain a tight, dry ship.
In his younger days, Al often sailed aboard his designs. He was adamant about the seaworthiness of a boat because he never learned to swim and had an abhorrent fear of capsizing on open water. Thus, he took meticulous care to insure that his designs would be able to survive any type of foul weather and indeed his designs often faired better than their sailors. As one proud owner once said with regard to a particularly rough Pacific crossing--She rode the waves like a duck!
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER |
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The MASON Series (MASON 34, MASON 44, MASON 52, MASON 54, & MASON 64) marketed by Pacific Asian Enterprises, Inc. (PAE) were not designed by naval architect Alvin Mason, nor were they ever authorized or approved by Al Mason. Any advertising claims to the contrary (including any inferences to Al Mason's reputation through the use of the word MASON) are bogus! |
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