PANAMÁ YACHTING SERVICES
  • Selden Masts and Rigging
    • Wooden Masts
    • Sailing News
  • Latest News
  • Boat construction
  • Restorations
    • Ranger >
      • Ranger - Burger Boats
      • Rebuild of a Classic - Ranger
    • Valkyrien
  • Sail Training
    • Vela de Formación
  • Contact
  • LaserPerformance

Slippery ships

4/4/2012

0 Comments

 
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120326-slippery-ships-and-cramped-canals 

I saw something like this when I was in Costa Rica in 1976. I met a drunken American engineer who explained the golf ball theory. This worked on the principal of dragging air along with the dimples in the golf ball. This gave the golf ball less resistance, greater range & speed.

In his case, he plus the US Army Corp of Engineers had indented the hulls of a 25ft Piver Trimaran with a small ball peen hammer giving a dimpled affect. He claimed a 15% increase in speed under engine or sailing and  less fuel being used motoring. No proof.  

I wanted to try it, but could never find any one with a boat I could take a hammer too. Now, 36 years later, air bubbling has turned up!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Author  

    James - sailor, shipwright, surveyor with a good 60 or more years of experience with the sea.

    Rosalind - opinionated writer and organizer, whose life has been swamped by the world of sailing.

    Archives

    April 2020
    January 2015
    February 2014
    September 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    October 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    Americas Cup
    Boat Design
    Bodacious Dream
    Classic Wooden Boats
    Cooking With A Pressure Cooker
    Local Hazards
    Malaria
    Sail Training
    Survival Adrift
    The Kiwi 40fc Yacht
    Violation Of International Maritime Law
    Volvo Ocean Race

    RSS Feed

For All Your Sailing Needs! Panama Yachting Services: Surveys, Rigging, Masts, Repairs 
  • Selden Masts and Rigging
    • Wooden Masts
    • Sailing News
  • Latest News
  • Boat construction
  • Restorations
    • Ranger >
      • Ranger - Burger Boats
      • Rebuild of a Classic - Ranger
    • Valkyrien
  • Sail Training
    • Vela de Formación
  • Contact
  • LaserPerformance