We asked yacht designers what cars they drive to work - Page 9

ALEX McDIARMID – McDiarmid Design

The Water Dragon – a symbol of power & superior control. Iwana is a symbol of prosperity for #Superyacht #Megayacht #YachtDesign visionaries pic.twitter.com/oS7Eg8rWLi

— Alexander McDiarmid (@McDiarmidDesign) June 24, 2017

Tell us what car you drive.

During the week a sporty little VW as Aix-en-Provence/South of France traffic is horrendous. Many old towns have very narrow roads originally designed for horse and carts. Along with an overloaded motorway, infrastructure makes for a lot of traffic jams. At the weekend an SUV for family life.

What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?

The 1963 Buick Riviera Silver Arrow and the Aston Martin DB5. Have a scale 1:18 model on my desk, does that count? Current favourite car; I would like an EV, the Porsche Mission E looks very interesting.

Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?

A subject close to my heart as someone who received his training in automotive design before moving into yacht design. Yachts are not cars so get that out of your mind; not even the big so-called US ‘Land Yachts’ of the 60’s and 70’s.

Yachts are simple, with long surfaces; cars are an amalgamation of a number of surfaces, often tight and complex, converging on various points. Controlling and resolving those surface changes on a car’s relatively small body area in comparison demands a great understanding of form.
It is a lot harder to design a car and the numerous poorly executed car manufacturer yacht designs demonstrate this. I don’t think it influences my yacht design work in terms of surface, form or styling treatment, although it certainly helps with 3D CAD modelling.

Definitely with the details of various yacht projects having once been inspired by the “flying buttresses” of the Jaguar XJS coupé for the coachroof of a sailing cruiser sloop yacht. The cars buttresses served as an aerodynamic aid adding stability at high speeds while I managed to incorporate a multi-purpose use for the yacht’s design. We are currently working on some automotive EV projects and they require a whole new design language so maybe some yacht design influence there…

Visit: www.mcdiarmid-design.com