About Surface Tension, Compromises and Notches
Greg,
Some comments, admittedly of little value.
Your thread is very interesting. And way over my head in practice, also. What a project! Nice to see mention and pictures of my boat, also.
:
>All of these decisions become a compromise in one way or another.
Isn't that the truth? All hull / boat designs and indeed, most things in life turn out to be compromises one way or another, that's for sure.
:
About notches in boat design. These can be interesting. I owned two Yamaha Waveraiders in the past: a 1994 700 twin, then an awesome 1995 1100 inline-triple. Each was the fastest stock PWC of its time, especially given flat water. They were amazing in their era, when running glassy-smooth water, noticeably lifting up onto their notched keels (at the jet pump), but again, only in very-calm water. The tradeoff was each was a wet, wild handful of a ride in rough water -- a costly compromise, in retrospect. It was a very exciting time, and I was addicted. I spent much of my free time then trolling for PWC victims to run in calmer water, especially hunting for those who had beaten my still-fun, but slower Kawasaki sit-down Jet-Skis a few years earlier.
Our Stingray 181RS bowrider has a notched transom which places its OB further forward than would be the case with a flat transom. This moves weight forward and shortens total length, saving me some garage space during storage also. Seems a tidy package for our "mini-van on the water."
Good luck with your ambitious project,
Andy