Aeolus / Yacht Design 1

Aeolus / Yacht Design

Question
How can rigorous hydrodynamic modeling inform the aesthetic soul of a high-performance vessel?
Medium
Industrial Design
Year
2026
Role
Industrial Designer / Naval Architect
Skills
Industrial Design, Technical Architecture, Generative AI, Product Strategy, Visual Design, Rhino, Blender

Aeolus is a technical exploration of naval architecture, blending rigorous hydrodynamic engineering with modern 3D visualization. The project features a 30-foot racing yacht designed for high-speed planning, supported by precise stability calculations and steering simulations.

Details

Aeolus is a high-performance 30-foot racing yacht named after the Greek god of winds, designed to bridge the gap between rigorous naval engineering and evocative industrial design.

The project centers on a planning hull architecture capable of exceeding 15 knots, supported by a deep 1.96-tonne lead bulb keel for extreme heeling stability.

By integrating dynamic steering simulations with modern 3D modeling, the project serves as a technical proof-of-concept for a vessel that is as agile as it is aesthetically striking.

Process

  1. Defined the technical brief for a 30-foot racing yacht, establishing length, displacement, and Froude number targets.
  2. Calculated hull geometry and foil specifications, including beam-to-draft ratios and keel bulb fineness ratios.
  3. Applied Nomoto's 1st-order model to simulate steering gain and time constants for dynamic maneuverability.
  4. Modeled the primary structure and hull lines in Rhino to meet semi-displacement and planning thresholds.
  5. Integrated GenAI to ideate some elements of design.
  6. Rendered final visualizations in Blender to simulate the vessel's performance and aesthetic on the water.

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