Thumbnail Image

Fishing boat designs: 2. V-bottom boats of planked and plywood construction (Rev.2)

Year of publication 2004

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 73 p.

Author Gulbrandsen, Ø.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (series)

ISBN 9251052018

Series title FAO Fisheries Technical Paper

Series number No. 134, Rev. 2 - T134Rev.2

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Timber remains the most common material for the construction of boats under 15 metres in length. There has been a change towards fibre-reinforced plastic in most developed countries and some developing countries but, in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, probably more than 90 percent of small fishing vessels are built of wood. The cost advantage of timber versus other materials is still sufficient to ensure that it will remain the dominant boatbuilding material for a long time to come in developing c ountries. However, unrestricted or illicit access to forest resources and the introduction of rational forestry management policies have caused and will continue to cause a scarcity of the sections of timbers traditionally favoured by boatbuilders. The resultant scarcity and high cost of good quality timber have not meant that less wooden boats are being built, but rather that vessel quality has deteriorated through the use of inferior timber and inadequate design strength. This updated and completely revised publication supersedes Revision 1 of FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 134 published in 1997. It follows an exhaustive study on structural timber design applied to wooden boat construction. The publication includes the designs of four small fishing vessels (from 5.2 to 8.5 metres), with comprehensive material specifications and lists, and provides detailed instructions for their construction, both planked and of plywood. The designs are appropriate for inshore and coastal fisheri es and emphasis has been placed on relative ease of construction and minimum wastage of timber.

Cite this content as:

​Gulbrandsen, Ø.. Fishing boat designs: 2. V-bottom boats of planked and plywood construction. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No. 134, Rev. 2. Rome, FAO. 2004. 64p. 


Language English

Also available in:

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (stand-alone)
    Fishing Boat Construction: 3. Building a Ferrocement Fishing Boat 1995
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    The increasing cost and scarcity of durable boatbuilding timbers have affected the construction of fishing craft around the world. The developed world has by and large witnessed the transfer from traditional wooden boatbuilding methods to either less conventional wood construction techniques (e.g., plywood or wood laminates) or non-wood materials such as fibre reinforced plastic (FRP), steel, aluminium and ferrocement. These techniques generally favour less labour intensive methods of constructi on. In the developing world where timber is still the predominant boatbuilding material, the scarcity and high cost of good quality timber have not meant that less wooden boats are being built, but rather that building quality has deteriorated through the use of poor quality timber. At the same time, however, attempts have been made to diversify construction methods with varying degrees of success. This publication is intended to benefit those who are considering ferrocement construction; it is assumed that those who use the book are already conversant in small fishing vessel construction.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.