Step placement

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Archive, Jun 12, 2001.

  1. Archive
    Joined: Jun 2001
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    Archive Senior Member

    I'm looking for either books or publications (online or via subscription or back issues) which go into detail about step placement and design on performance powerboats from 25-40'. I see that almost all of todays production performance and sport boat lines employ steps of one type or another, mostly similar to one another, but I have been unable to locate much information about the design or calculations involved.
     
  2. Archive
    Joined: Jun 2001
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    Archive Senior Member

    Ditto.
    The only info I have ever found is in an old publication by Uffa Fox, where he espoused the great benefits of using steps in powerboats - and that was back in the 50's!
     
  3. Archive
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    Archive Senior Member

    The late Bob Hobbs of Miami may have published on this topic.
    Harry Schoell, www.pulsedrive.net knows about this stuff, but I doubt he's talking unless he gets paid.

    What I can tell you is that you want the angle of incidence of your planing surfaces to be about 4 degres at your target speed.

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    Stephen Ditmore
    New York
     
  4. Archive
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    Archive Senior Member

    You could take a look at the patent number 5452676 filed by Paul A. Fiore in 1994. This is a patent for a multiple steps.

    Try www.cartesianinc.com but I think you hav to register to get any information here.

    Best of luck.

    Cato
     
  5. Archive
    Joined: Jun 2001
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    Archive Senior Member

    You could also look for the patents of Harry Schoell and Michael Peters (at www.delphion.com) I favor this type - a single step forward of the CG for the purpose of achieving the 4 deg angle of trim mentioned before over the widest possible speed range. Schoell designs the Larson hulls, and is suing Regal for patent infringement. For high speeds it is important that no curvature is immersed forward, and Schoell's approach to achieving this is also an important part of his thinking.

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    Stephen Ditmore
    New York
     
  6. twalker
    Joined: Jul 2001
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    twalker Junior Member

    As a counterpoint, there was a short article on Steve Stepp (of Velocity Powerboats - notched transom and pad vee bottom fame) in Powerboat Magazine. Stepp says he will never build a stepped bottom because
    http://www.powerboatmag.com/2001/july/features/feature11.html and at http://www.velocityboats.com/ Stepp cites several hooking, spinning, and rolling accidents which he credits to stepped ventilated hulls.

    Providing a narrow flat water-ski-like pad for a boat to run on at top speed vs. aerating/ventilating the hull with steps running transverse to the boat’s axis would seem to allow for tighter handling, and if the speed improvement is equally as good… I don’t think padded vee’s have as good a hole shot though.

    Have there been any reviews comparing the handling of a Harry Schoell step configuration to a typical two-smaller steps aft setup?
     
  7. Stephen Ditmore
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    Location: South Deerfield, MA, USA

    Stephen Ditmore Senior Member

    stepped hull

    The data I've seen indicates that Harry Schoell's single step design is lower resistance
    than comparable non stepped and at least one twin step design at most planing speeds. I
    would note that the best results are obtained by combining a stepped hull with a surface
    drive, which is what led Schoell to get into the surface drive business. I would also
    note that Schoell's designs have incorporated a flat "pad" (or in some cases an inverted
    V) aft of the step since about 1989. Whatever the merits of a pad, the ability of a
    properly designed stepped hull to maintain optimum trim over a wide speed range is a
    major advantage, in my opinion.

    I think many control problems are due to the same factors whether the boat has a step or
    not. A CG too far forward or too little chine beam relative to the boat's displacement or
    a poorly shaped planing surface forward can result in curvature (along the path of flow)
    being wetted. As for "spinning out," it may indicate that the step is too close to the CG,
    but it should be correctable with a skeg aft in any case, just as it is on a surfboard.

    Stephen Ditmore
    New York
     
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  8. Scott
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    Scott Junior Member

    Another (free) place to search for and view relevant patents is http://www.surfip.gov.sg/

    or US patents can be searched by keyword or number for free at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/
    (to view the images you need a free TIFF viewer plugin for your browser... a good one is listed under the help section of that site if you can't view the TIFF's)
     
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