How can I give back?

[davidpm]

Thank you all for your comments. I will certainly volunteer for Sail Connecticut Access Program come spring. They sound like a great organization.

Since my primary skills are computer and web based I have been attempting to think of some service under-served by a web site.
There are plenty of websites for buying and selling, Sailnet does a good job with these forums. There are lots of specialized websites for specific boats.
One thing I have not found however is a central clearing house site for boat buyers to do research.
I'm thinking of a site with the following features?
Specifications for every sailboat ever made.
Pictures and movies of specific boats attached to the specifications.
Owners comments about specific features of their boat.

Successful websites leverage the knowledge of their readership.
This site would allow logged in users to add boats, specs and pictures.

I find that when I am looking for a boat I generate a ton of research data. I'm thinking that the site would be a place to capture that data and it would be stored privately until I purchased a boat and then all the data would be public.

Of course the raw idea is hard to visualize as the implementation will make or break the concept.
What do you think is their anything useful in this idea?
If the design is good enough maybe some really bare bones single model sites would take advantage of a free service and a lot of information would become easier to find and compare.

[sailingdog]

The biggest problem with a site like what you're describing is the data collection and entry.

Originally Posted by davidpm

Thank you all for your comments. I will certainly volunteer for Sail Connecticut Access Program come spring. They sound like a great organization.

Since my primary skills are computer and web based I have been attempting to think of some service under-served by a web site.
There are plenty of websites for buying and selling, Sailnet does a good job with these forums. There are lots of specialized websites for specific boats.
One thing I have not found however is a central clearing house site for boat buyers to do research.
I'm thinking of a site with the following features?
Specifications for every sailboat ever made.
Pictures and movies of specific boats attached to the specifications.
Owners comments about specific features of their boat.

Successful websites leverage the knowledge of their readership.
This site would allow logged in users to add boats, specs and pictures.

I find that when I am looking for a boat I generate a ton of research data. I'm thinking that the site would be a place to capture that data and it would be stored privately until I purchased a boat and then all the data would be public.

Of course the raw idea is hard to visualize as the implementation will make or break the concept.
What do you think is their anything useful in this idea?
If the design is good enough maybe some really bare bones single model sites would take advantage of a free service and a lot of information would become easier to find and compare.

[xort]

David
I found my Endev on the endev owners site. it is a pretty big site by itself. No need to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps a compendium of links to good owner sites along with a place for those boats that do not have an owners site of their own?

[hellosailor]

"Specifications for every sailboat ever made."
David, considering how many specs were only published on paper and how few of those sales sheets typically survive, do you have any idea of the magnitude of that task?
You've got a couple of years of free time and plenty of money to spend on postage and travel, trying to collect that data?

[mrwuffles]

i believe theres a site similar to that already ill try and find it sorry to burst your bubble

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by mrwuffles

i believe theres a site similar to that already ill try and find it sorry to burst your bubble

Let me know if you find it. Thanks.

[Bene505]

How to give back?

I "read" to a relative's class, to a bunch of 10-year-olds. So I read an excerpt from Slocum's book and then went back into the hall and grabbed my spinnaker. (It had a few rips in it already and was headed for the Doyle shop for repairs.) I unfurled it over the desks and heads of all the kids.

Here's a link to a large (105Meg) video. The kids were having fun.

http://hallmont.com/pics/sailnet%20p...spinnakers.AVI

[CalebD]

Bene,
That is a rather large video. Took at least 5 minutes to load and we have a cable modem. Nevertheless, the kids seemed to be having a ball with the spinnaker! Which section of 'Around the world alone' did you read them?

David,
Interesting idea. Many commercial websites attempt to cover all makes and brands but usually through links to external sites.
I have to wonder if there isn't already some sort of database out there for marine designers at places like the Webb Institute ( Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering | Welcome to Webb Institute! )and others that would allow designers to compare hull shapes, drag, wetted surface areas, relative dimensions etc that would also interact with some kind of CAD/CAM software. There are a few schools that offer marine engineering degrees that must use some fairly standard engineering software (schools: Schools - Marine Design, Yacht Design, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Universities ).
I have to agree that it could be a bit of a monumental task as well. OTOH, I used to work as an ETL (extract, transform and load) programmer so if you had a database design (tables, views etc) someone could help you populate the data.
On the darker side, keep in mind what happened with Sailnet regarding the Tartan/C&C thread (and Cam). A best case scenario would be that a group like NMMA would dislike such an unbiased review of some of their members products that they might just try to buy you out (to shut you down)! This is (of course) why most sailing mags never publish negative reviews of boats (imagine an article titled: "10 worst boats of 2008"). Even Practical Sailor seems to always publish 'pros' as well as 'cons' when reviewing a boat. At least PS seems to give the thumbs down to some products.

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by CalebD

I have to agree that it could be a bit of a monumental task as well. OTOH, I used to work as an ETL (extract, transform and load) programmer so if you had a database design (tables, views etc) someone could help you populate the data. , keep in mind what happened with Sailnet regarding the Tartan/C&C thread (and Cam).

I was thinking more of a wikipedia model whereby users could contribute content. This is more of a scratch-my-own-itch concept at this point. I have collected tons of data and have no easy way to store, retrieve and compare it.
I have not seen any site that is comprehensive and well done. All the sites I have seen so far are:

• Lots of info on a few boats.
• A little info on a lot of boats
• Poorly designed.
• Not active

It looks to me like their is an opportunity but it is a big job even with user support.