Most of the Rover designs have been done for experienced boat owners unsatisfied with stock boats offered. The usual Client is one who has had several boats, and recognises the difference between a design for the sea environment and one which is a product of company accountants' drive for profits and advertising executives' promotional rhetoric.
Since a custom design requires hours of engineering and drafting time, the usual practise is to undertake a design with the understanding that design rights remain with Rover Marine for sale
as stock plans, thereby reducing both the initial custom design cost and the cost of stock plans. Inserted in this selection of Rover designs is a current price list of study plans and full plan sets. Study plans are priced per sheet. Full plans are priced according to many factors, including amount of design detail, size of vessel, Coast Guard approval requirements, and so forth.
With the purchase of each set of plans comes a reasonable amount of free consultation service. Generally speaking, if the question can be answered over the phone, there is no charge. If drafting or engineering are due. Modifications are always considered to carry additional costs.
Consultant service is available for prospective clients at my current hourly rate. Inspection service for work in progress is available on a "per diem" 'basis.
Steel is the only material we work with. That is not to say that fiberglass, ferro cement , wood, etc. are not also fine boatbuilding materials; it is to say that concentration on steel as a preferred material ensures that each design is developed with full potential for steel. Many designers try to reach as broad a spectrum of prospective buyers as possible by offering each design for construction in several different materials. A proper steel hull, that is, one that performs its intended purpose well and is pleasing to the eye, must be conceived, developed, and have all interrelating components integrated specifically from the onset, for construction in steel. This is what Rover Marine does.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Rover Marine Lines Inc. is devoted exclusively to the design of traditional steel sailing vessels for both amateur or professional construction. I totally design each vessel from the first engineering calculations to final drafting by hand. This assures perfect integration of all the facets of each yacht design.
Rover Marine designs state the subtle, and very important, difference between vessels intended for vacation cruising and those for year-round living or world voyaging. As an engineer, licensed ship master and devotee of the art of "just messing around in boats", each design has a blend of solid engineering, pleasing esthetics and seaworthiness.
I endeavor to impart in each design the best traditional concepts of hand drawings mated with computerized calculations and table of offsets. The designs empahsize the advantages of modern materials and methods of fabrication but avoid the trend toward unnecessary gadgets. The success of this approach is proven by the many working Rover Schooners. If you are looking for a tradtional steel design of the highest quality that out-sails any other vessel in her class; precision, detailed drawings and enthusiasm for your project, then consider the Tahiti Rover design.
Last updated:
Wednesday, 4 October, 2017