Ritchie Howell continues to produce world class custom sportfishing yachts from his shop in Wanchese, NC. DLBA is excited to be part of his team providing naval architecture and design services including hull form development, machinery layouts, powering and performance development, and deck design.
The history of autonomy that DLBA, a Gibb & Cox division, has to draw from dates back to 1955. In that year, Gibbs & Cox launched the 30’ (9m) Sea Legs for the U.S. Navy.
Ferry service is one of the maritime industries last year to take a major hit from COVID-19 shutdowns. But as some discovered, sometimes a shutdown is an opportunity to refurbish and improve – do the things we’ve been wanting to do for a while, but haven’t had time to do. DLBA Naval Architects has been right there as Haig Point Transportation has decided to rethink their Ferry boat, Haig Point II and update its look.
DLBA was proud to be involved with the Palmer Johnson Sportyacht series back in 2005. This was the first large project that DLBA Director, Jeffrey Bowles, had the opportunity to lead for the company.
Lifting a yacht with a travel lift can be a stressful and difficult process. Using a travel lift can cause unexpected damages and other difficulties. However, there are times when using a travel lift is unavoidable and must be done for required maintenance.
We’ve been talking about artificial intelligence (AI) and different ways to leverage this technology into yachting for the benefit of the owner. Emirates Team New Zealand capitalized on this technology in a big way in this year’s America’s Cup. If you haven’t heard about how the boat designers and operators teamed up to leverage AI, you need to check out this story.
When launched in 1931, MV Savarona was the largest luxury yacht in the world at length of 446’ (136m). Named for an African swan living in the Indian Ocean, the ship was designed by Gibbs & Cox in 1931 for American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwallader, grand-daughter of John A. Roebling, engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.
DLBA’s Director of Workboats, Jonathan Soja, led DLBA’s largest incline experiment to date in March, 2021 in tandem with Norfolk Dredging Company. The experiment was performed to determine the vessel weight and center of gravity for U.S.
IMO Tier III regulations changed as of January 1, 2021 regarding emissions control on recreational vessels. Craft with a load line length of 24 meters (just under 79 feet) or greater are now required to meet the new limits with regards to Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) levels in the exhaust of marine diesel engines (a reduction of as much as 70%).
DLBA Naval Architects is always ready to look beyond the horizon, and Turkey is well beyond what we can see from the coast of Virginia. There, on the Turkish coast, is Vicem Yachts, a new DLBA partner.
