Wave piercing hull 1

[gizmag1]

Had an idea while out boating and wanted a little feed back as there isn't much info from most book stores etc.
Basically boating in our district is often an uncomfortable one, as we have vast expanses of partial open water but relatively shallow depth. Consiquently it tends to develop a very short chop by afternoon.

As you well know wave piercing catermerans have been around for a long time in commercial sized vessels, but my idea was to utilise a conventional sized aluminium hull- "tinnie" with the addition of two sponsons either size to cut through the short chop. And if the swells over whelm the wave piercers then the conventional hulls bouyancy would take over. Obviously gusseting the donor hull to support the torsional twisting etc, but this design also lends inself to the use of "off the shelf" jet ski motors in each hull - Minimal draft, high power to weight, low centre of gravity etc. The only real stumbling block with this whole idea is that the sponsons, at approx fifteen feet, hull speed is pretty slow and if one designs it as a semi planer then will the ride still be smooth enough? It seems this is a problem as there is a lot of cost to develop a one off prototype, but you kind folk may save me a lot of money, sweat, and tears...

 

[GregLocock]

One alternative is to use two pairs of in-line sponsons. The resistance hump then occurs at low speed, where you have plenty of power.

http://www.cyberiad.net/michlet.htm

Is an excellent program that estimates the performance of hulls in smooth water and correlates well with real world results.

http://www.geocities.com/greglocock/hullres.htm

Alternatively, why not get serious and use hydrofoils?



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[gizmag1]

Thanks so much, you have answered both of my threads accurately and with a minimum of fuss!... Congratulations - with out pissing in your pocket, ta mate.