A yacht designer who builds the tools he uses.

“The first time I met Phil, he was just beginning his software project: a marine design suite built in Grasshopper and C# for Rhino 3D. From the very start, he demonstrated remarkable determination and exceptional skill in software development. He has never been content with simply making his software good; instead, he’s been driven by a pursuit of excellence and a desire to bring real value to the industry. At the core of his work lies a parametric approach to design. Now that the software is in its final stages of development and the production release is just around the corner, I’m eager to see how it will be received and how practitioners will use it to their advantage and for the benefit of the yacht design industry as a whole.”

“I wholeheartedly recommend Phil, an exceptional yacht designer whose expertise and innovation continue to impress. Beyond his mastery in naval design, Phil has demonstrated remarkable talent as a computational designer and coder. He single-handedly developed a groundbreaking plugin for Grasshopper in Rhino, transforming it into a comprehensive, user-friendly, and highly productive boat development tool. His vision for naval engineering and ability to deliver sophisticated solutions are truly outstanding. Phil is not only a brilliant professional but also an approachable and inspiring colleague. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking a talented and dedicated individual.”

“Collaborating with Phil Southwell has been exceptional. He brings original design thinking grounded in naval architecture, linking aesthetics, hydrostatics and structure into clear, effective decisions, and he raises the bar by championing breakthrough tools like YachtSoft. We also collaborated in HullZero to add features such as the performance module for planing hulls.”