Speed Boat on skis

[Poida]

I don't know how to link to another web article but on the front page of
http://www.news.com.au there is an article about a new boat design that works on a ski.

[DCockey]

Link to the article: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/t...-1226046690868 (Copied and pasted from the browser when the article was displayed.) Appears to be the only information available. A number of websites have the same text with a couple different photos of the same boat. Presumably a press release.

Flat bottom, parallel sided hull with upturned bow. Sides extend below the bottom and with a ski on the bottom of each side. At speed the skis appear to provide lift for the bottom to be clear of the water. Performance in waves could be interesting - for a short time.

[Poida]

Thanks "D" is that how you do it. I knew that.

[whitepointer23]

interesting boat poida, i have doubts about going offshore though.

[cthippo]

[Poida]

What do you think the effects would be of one of those skis hitting a floating object at 120 KPH ie log, getting caught in a fishing float or a large marine animal (dolphin)?

[cthippo]

I'm not sure. It looks like they are about 6" out of the water in that picture, so if they hit something submerged it would be toward the back of the ski. The problem could be reduced by reshaping the leading edge of the skis and faring them into the hull so that there is no surface to catch on.

Hitting a log at 120 KPH is going to ruin your whole day pretty much regardless of what kind of boat you're on. I'm not sure that doing so in this would be significantly worse than doing so in a more conventional boat.

On the other hand, I'm also not sure what problem they're solving with this design.

[CutOnce]

Originally Posted by cthippo

On the other hand, I'm also not sure what problem they're solving with this design.

Curves and any form of craftsmanship are being "solved". Man, that thing is intentionally uglier than it needs to be. The designer must really hate the client.

This is an example of how one can spend the same amount of money to arrive at something horrible as they would spend to arrive at something beautiful. Refer back to the thread about "Can anyone design?".

--
CutOnce

[rambat]

At first I thought you were talking about the Klem "flying boat" I modeled the shape into 3/D and prepared the "plug" files for cutting. Also, created a Jetlike cockpit for a Miami Boat Show showing around 99-02 I think.

It was developed to have the fwd ski and ride on its own captured air bubble with some lift generated by its wing shaped body.

Looked like fun, not sure what happened to his plans to mass produce

[tom kane]

Here is an image from New Zealand 1915 showing a speed boat with "tempoary planes" extended.
Here we see RIVAL battling along with her planes extended. the developer dropped the idea as technology had not caught up with his ideas. You can imagine the ridicule he endured from the local establishment.
From VINTAGE NEW ZEALAND LAUNCHES A WINKELMANN PORTFOLIO
Harold Kidd and Robin Elliott
And he could do it No Hands see.

RIVAL achieved 22.87 knots running a Model K 572 cu inch SCRIPPS 111 engine.

[Ike]

Actually not as revolutionary as they say. The basic concept has been around for generations. I agree, ugly, but it seems functional. I too doubt it's ability function on open water.

see http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3308780.pdf

They were proposed for planes too http://books.google.com/books?id=zdw...page&q&f=false

Basically a simple hydroplane.

[tom kane]

Striking a balance between aesthetics and efficiency is a big problem (as shown on these forums) and often aesthetics as a major hallmark can ruin a good idea.

[intrepid71]

Here is the website, including a video.

http://www.seaski.com.au/

It looks pretty effective. I don't think it would scale up very well to larger, more useful vessels, due to the square/cube law, but it looks like that little demonstrator moves along pretty well and even handles some seas.

[cthippo]

It finally dawned on me what that reminds me of!

It's based on the shuttles from the original Star Trek.

[Ike]

Damn! You're right! Beam me up Scotty, there's no intelligent life on this planet.