Boat construction

Boats may be built from many different materials – wood planking, marine plywood, fibreglass, canvas on timber frame, metals such as steel or aluminium, or even concrete.

In boats made of wooden planking (strakes), the main types are Clinker, Carvel and Diagonal. Boats constructed in any of these ways have a hull which is of a “round bottom” type.

CLINKER - the strakes run from bow to stern, overlapping at the edges.

CARVEL - the strakes run from bow to stern but are fitted together ‘edge -to edge’ making a smooth surface.

DIAGONAL - the strakes do not run from bow to stern, but diagonally in two layers, the inner layer at right angles to the outer layer.

CHINE - Other types of hull may be “flat bottom” or “hard chine”. The hard chine hull has a narrow “V” shape forward, becoming gradually flatter aft. This is a common shape in small sailing boats and is very suitable for construction from sheets of marine plywood. CLINKER

CARVEL

Strakes

DIAGONAL

CHINE