The traditional two dimensional “lines” based design methods using stations, waterlines, buttocks, diagonals, sheer, chine, keel/rabbet, etc can be quicker working in a good CAD system such as Rhino compared to drawing on paper with ships curves and splines. The challenge with that method, whether done on a computer or on paper, is ensuring the curves intersect or are at least “close enough”; not just that the individual curves are each fair on their own. The waterlines and buttocks need to intersect. The buttocks need to intersect with the sheer. The waterlines need to intersect with the stem and sheer. And so forth. This is tedious and very time consuming for a round bottom hull, even when done using Rhino or similar. For a simple hard chine hull with simple surfaces between the major curve sit is much simpler.
I have started with numerous sets of lines and tables of offset and created faired surfaces. My approach is to import the offsets as 3D points into Rhino, check and correct obvious errors, fair out any major discrepancies, and then move onto creating and fairing the surface. The number of control points of the surface can be less than and frequently much less than the total number of control points in the “lines” curves. Once the model is faired it is used to for analysis and to obtain a set of faired lines and offsets, CNC cutting files, etc.
Working with a surface rather than a set of lines is not new. Nathaniel Herreshoff, the American sailing yacht designer of the late 19th and early 20th century, created his hull shapes by carving a half model and ensuring the half model surface had the desired shape and was smooth. The half model was measured with high precision using a custom machine with the results recorded in a book of offsets. The offsets then went to the building floor.