Customer Reviews

Boats with an Open Mind: Seventy-Five Unconventional Designs and Concepts

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Congratulations! You have arrived! If you dream practical dreams--if you dream of building a boat--and if you haven't discovered Bolger, prepare yourself, for you are about to be set free! Bolger THINKS. He thinks of what you need in your boat, and he designs them in. The details are all there. He considers engines, ground tackle, comforts. He considers place. Where is the boat going to be used. Where will it be stored. Will it need to fit under low bridges. He considers limitations, specifically those of the home builder. No fancy custom bronze castings here; his fittings you can build from stock items, and they work. Bolger is one of a kind. He is the Master. His boats can be beautiful (Nord Koster) practical (Diablo) extraordinary (Steel Singlehander) and all of the above (Sainte Valery). This book is aptly titled; it WILL open your mind. Welcome fellow boat dreamer and builder, to the world of Phil Bolger & Friends. You're gonna like it here.....

Phil Bolger has a direct approach to designing boats which is reflected in an easy writing style.

Radical designers have often called for advanced techniques of construction, expensive materials and sophisticated tools, with exotic results - but Bolger's boats are for anyone with a yen to be afloat, and so is this book.
Even if I never build a Bolger boat (unlikely, since three sheets of plywood are now on order) I will have gained an extra appreciation of boats and boating that will stand me in good stead.

His writing skill is to make clear what is needful without bombast or technical obscurity. Despite this, there is a technical daring in some of his simplest designs that can be breathtaking. At times he waxes poetic, within the context of how one might use and enjoy his designs. Check out "Birdwatcher" and see if you don't agree.

There is also a refreshing frankness about the ones that didn't pan out - not all designers will admit to errors, but Bolger is happy to expose his learning processes for our benefit. This is an unusual book, and I recommend it. Ben Mullet

Phil Bolger is the only boat architect I know who readily admits mistakes. This makes this book the best book about boats one can read. Only mistakes lead to experience. It is incredible how much you learn and how it changes ones opinion about how a boat should look. Especially those designing themselves will greatly appreciate all the ideas, ranging from novel to strange. This is one of the few books on boat-design which I have actually read from start till end.

Open mind - you bet. A broad range of boats here. I wanted to build a light displacement, shallow draft, plus open ocean cruiser, 6 out of eight builders said it can't be done. Bolger gives you three designes from 30 to 90 feet, timber or steel plus a lot more smaller boats. I took the plans, which I enlarger on a photocopier from A5 book page, to A3, to the Tasmanian Wooden Boat festival in Tasmania Australia and had a wonderful response fron two 70+ year old ship wrights who thought the designs were very usefull, practical and seaworthy. I guess the best review you could get is a "build it" from a veteran ship wright who understands everone wants something unique or has a special need in their design. This book will give you ideas and solutions, if not exact plans, to overcome many unique problems you may have. I have a shallow bay to tie up in but I wanted to let the boat sit on the beach at low tide and I also have a thirty foot bridge between me and the sea and I want to sail to New Zealand, a tough design brief. I got all the answeres from Boats with an open mind. Only problem with this book is, "is your mind open enough?" If not, go buy a white plastic boat and miss the charm of a personal, warm, wonderful boat that meets your every requirement.

If you have even caught a hint of what Bolger does and enjoy reading about boats then you will love this book. I have never sailed on a Bolger boat, never seen a Bolger boat nor even spoken to a Bolger boat owner, but one day, when I see a Bolger boat (which may wind up being my own boat, a pirogue which I should build this coming winter and for which I have plans) I know that there will be a weird thrill -- square boats work and they look good.

He is a clear writer and there are some fun and gentle stories. I think what makes it so darn good is that each boat is not too far from reach, and if it is then you just know you could throw the boat on the next page together over a few weekends. Or, you know, a few months at the most.

I have to agree with the reviewers that find Bolger refreshing and candid as well as knowledgeable to a fault. This book is eminently readable and rereadable. There is no doubt that there are many thought provoking ideas here. There are some handsome boats here as well but frankly many are aesthetic eyesores. I have an interest in a build-it-yourself cruising sailboat in the 25-35' range and the most attractive boats here from a practical usable/buildable sense are really pretty hard to look at. On one hand Bolger complains about concessions to style suggesting that to make them you admit that you are ashamed of the boat - on another page he suggests painting a mural on the slab side of one of the larger sharpies - a concession to their huge billboard bland shape. This book is practically an icon of good sense/ideas but as a guide to a boat building/aquisition it leaves one a bit frustrated. As for the plans they are of course hard to read - like every designer the author is entitled to sell his designs (not that that is the point of the book). A failing is that the book does not give any guidance to where plans could be purchased. Even it they don't please this readers eye the bigger sharpies have to be considered!

I tend to gravitate towards the mechanical/engineering aspects of a subject but this book will help anyone who is looking for "ideas". It presents actual designs by the author in response to readers questions and requests all compiled into different types and classes of boats, i.e. sailing, micros, motorboats, etc. Each boat is designed to address specific requirements - some almost to the comical. It does however allow one to think/design beyond the confines of 'accepted' industry standards. I enjoyed reading it and most of all expanding my accepted criteria. Enjoy.

OK, I admit it, I am enthralled with the genius of this boat designer, Phil Bolger. He has designed more boats than any person alive, 750+. This book reveals his thought process giving a window into his remarkably creative mind.

I especially enjoy how he chooses to draw upon the vast tradition and the history of boats designed throughout history, and then updates and synthesizes these boat designs to reflect modern materials and his new ideas. Bolger reveals that in many cases; the modern school of boat design is a 'The King has No Clothes' proposition. Bolger repeatedly questions the conventional wisdom, much in a similar way to how Buckminster Fuller questioned 20th Century architectural and industrial design ideas.

I simply can't wait for the next book by Phil Bolger! In the mean time I will re-read this one, and read his frequent articles in the magazine _Messing About In Boats_.

The book is a good primer on different boat designs. Don't buy it expecting to build any of the boats enclosed straight from the book as it's not a "how to" book. There is a resource section in the back of the book that gives information on how to get building plans. It will shed light on the thinking that went into the designs, and from that standpoint, it will get your "creative juices flowing". Overall a good read that will open your mind to many design possibilties.

There is not enough detail in this book to build any of the boats, but the stories explaining the reason for each design are entertaining and informative. This book is like a catalog of boat designs. It provides enough information that you will be able to decide if it is worth while to order plans for a specific design.