Are we being taken for a ride????

[Itchy&Scratchy]

The scenario:18-24 ft powerboat -all rounder with centre console, with a ski pole etc etc.
In other words your general use family type boat used on flat water and sea on occasion.

Over the years ,because I work in the marine repair industry, I have had the opportunity to have a look at many boats from underneath and have been, and am, interested in what makes the perfect bottom hull shape.

My question:
What does everybody generally think about these stepped hulls, and when I mean stepped, I mean those with great big channels in the mouldings, I've seen some at angles, some perpendicular,I seen some a foot deep, step ups step downs......
I mean it seems to be never ending.

Now I also have 28 years of windsurfing under my belt and bottom shape definitely plays a significant role there. It started way back with flat boards with a slight V in the tail, it then progressed to a single concave leading into a flat into a V
Then we had double concave, triple concave, channels running the full length, we had dead flat, no tail v...

And now funnily enough, we are back to dead flat into a slight V in the tail again.
and you know what.........
the latest design is still way faster than all of those others through the years.

so getting back to my question

I know all about air bubbles etc for the hull to ride on blah,blah,blah.....
but at the end of the day
does a nice clean line hull, possibly with a deepish V at the bow flattening out and leading into a slight V (weve been here before havent we??) in the tail cover all bases when it comes to a boat for all conditions/uses.

Are the rest that we are offered not marketing gimmicks used by salesman to sell boats.
As they say
'******** baffles brains'

J

[tom28571]

No, we are not being taken for a ride, so to speak

Its both natural and healthy that designers and builder constantly search for improvements in hull design. And yes, you are correct that the simple and clean hull bottom shape you describe is very hard to improve on for every day use by most people. It was arrived at by some intelligent thinkers long ago and is still a superior hull for most of us. Many of the new variations have their uses and areas where they are "better" than the simple warped bottom or monohedron shapes.

There are some very simple rules of thumb that describe these hull bottom shapes that suit different water, load and speed requirements. All are slightly different versions of the hull you describe. Most, including me, who attempt to design powerboats usually put their own ideas into these simple forms. Others go further afield, sometimes succeed and sometimes pollute the water with ugly and ill handling failures. I engage in and support both camps.

[dreamer]

Agree with Tom. Two things to consider:

1.) The ocean has been the same for millions of years and will most likely stay that way for as long as you care. That's good. It's a known quantity.

2.) There is no perfect boat that does everything well. Not even the 70's vintage Bayliner runabout I saw this summer that some genius had attached a mast to.

It's a good thing there isn't a perfect boat, or this web site probably wouldn't exist. People try new things and it either sticks or it doesn't. V-bottoms have stuck. 'Stepped' hulls have stuck to a degree. Marketing ploy? I don't know, but there is quantitative proof that such things are a benefit. Often times you may see something on a boat (or a car, or a bike, etc) that 'looks' like it adds to performance when in reality it doesn't add anything or in some cases (like the Lambo Countach's wing) hurts performance.

Stepped hulls give additional lift...if your boat is going balls out. I reckon at cruising speeds these suckers probably rob your fuel economy. But they sure look cool as hell sitting on the trailer.