Thanks for the kind comments, Erlend.
I agree with Ad Hoc that some experiments are not very reliable, particularly for Froude numbers around 0.35.
Most codes (CFD and classical) predict large bow-stern wave interference around Fr=0.35, and that (beneficial) wave interference is not always realised in practice. Predictions around Fr=0.35 should always be interpreted as the the best attainable under ideal conditions; towing tank experiments should be treated with great suspicion because small variations in towing speed, vibrations and many other factors can induce large changes in the measured resistance. Wave cancellation (and reinforcement) can be quite sensitive to those changes.
For trimarans the difficulties are compounded. Towing tanks are not always wide enough to comfortably handle multihulls. Predicted wave cancellation can be significant (not just at Fr=0.35) and not realised.
If you are looking for other papers on trimarans, see:
Sandy Day, David Clelland and Ed Nixon,
"Experimental and Numerical Investigation of "Arrow" Trimarans,
Proc. FAST 2003, pp. D2-23 to D-30.
That paper was an attempt to verify the predictions that E.O Tuck and I made for optimum placement of trimaran outriggers, but it used demihulls with transom sterns.
The ITTC is starting to compile the results of the "Facility Bias World Wide Campaign". This campaign aims at testing the same model hull (one with L=3.048m and the other L=5.72m) at about 30 towing tanks. (See attached Proc. 25th ITTC - Vol I, The Resistance Committee
Final Report and Recommendations, 2008, Fukuoka).
The first few results are not particulary encouraging. For example, the uncertainties of measured trim are very large in some cases. Maybe the results will be better from other tanks. Or maybe not. It looks like a bit of a gamble at the moment.
For preliminary and "First pass" design, I tend to take the view of experienced naval architects Carl Scragg and Bruce Nelson who, after conducting an extensive experimental program with rowing shells, concluded:
"...the empirical approach is less reliable in discerning small differences in performance than the systematic results obtained from numerical hydrodynamics."
Scragg, Carl A. and Nelson, Bruce D.
"The Design of an Eight-Oared Rowing Shell",
Marine Technology, Vol. 30, No. 2, April 1993, pp. 84-99.
All the best,
Leo.