Water craft with graded hull and outboard wings

Abstract

The invention relates to a marine craft (99) having a graded hull (100) comprising a forward hull section (103), a first graded hull section (106) and an optional second graded hull section (108) . Outboard ram air wings (120) extend outwardly from the hull and downwardly along the staging hull section. Outboard strakes (110, 112) are secured to the grading hull section and may be tapered to define ports to the grading hull section. During planing operations, the passages defined by the wings compress incoming air, whereby the incoming air is at least partially forced below the grading hull section. In horizontal operation, the flow through the channels is used to keep the graded hull sections in good contact with the water.

Description

[0001] Cross references to related patent applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Provisional Application No. 61 / 187644, filed June 16, 2009, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Background technique

[0003] Such as Aptly described in U.S. Patent No. 6,666,160 of , "Because people prefer to use boats for waterborne commerce, he has attempted to design hulls with increased speed without unduly sacrificing stability." Reducing hydrodynamic drag on the hull and One way to thereby improve the efficiency of the hull of a high performance watercraft is to provide a stepped hull, wherein the lower surface of the hull is not a smooth surface but includes transverse steps. Graded hulls can be used to improve hull performance by improving in-water performance characteristics, thereby reducing the wetted surface of the hull. Graded hulls have been known for many years and include, for example, US Patent No. 1,121,006 to Fauber, US Pat...

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