I was fortunate to spend a half hour with Mr. DeFever a few years ago. He is adamant that the boats he designs are not trawlers but motor yachts.
He said that trawlers drag nets around the sea bed. He pointed out that early in his career he did design trawlers, but he has not done so in 40 years.
He is well over 90 years old but still sharp. I asked him to send me copies of his drawings of my boat no matter what the cost, but he said there was a problem with who actually owned the drawings.
He told me his favorite design was my Jensen Marine 40, but I suspect he says that to all the “girls”.
Nice guy, smart, and an incredibly skilled draftsman who really knows boats. I hope he gets his drawing ownership issue worked out before he leaves us.
Mike
Edit to add -
The marine design software I own has a very hard time drawing the bow of a DeFever. Too many compound curves for nurb surfaces to fair.
I can duplicate it by hand with ducks and splines after a lot of thought but Rhino, Prosurf, and Autoship just go crazy. Mr. DeFever really was a skilled draftsman.
Ever wondered why late model boats look the way they do? It’s the software.
Mike