GENERALHULLFORMEQUATIONS

Long Tons Displacement LT

Cu. Ft. Displacement

Cu. Ft. Displacement

Midsection Area Am
Midsection Coefficient = =
WLBeam Body Draft WLB D B

Prismatic Coefficient =
Block Coefficient
=
CB

M idsection Coefficient CM

WP Area
Waterplane Coefficient =
LWL WLB

Thesearealldimensionlesscoefficientsofform,whichthereforeallowcomparisonwithother
boats,orevenwithmodels,independentoftheirdifferencesinsize.

 COEFFICIENTSOFFORM

DISPLACEMENTTOLENGTH

Rangesfor/L(DisplacementtoLength)havebeenslowlyredefinedovertheyears,tending
towardlighterdisplacementswithineachrange.

Sail

LightMultiHulls 4050
UltraLightRacers 100150
LightRacers 150200

LightCruisers&OffshoreRacers 200275
MediumWeightCruisers 275325
HeavyCruisers 325400

Power

LightDisplacement 75200
MediumDisplacement 200300
HeavyDisplacement 300400

Heavierdisplacementrequiresmorepower,moresailarea,andismorecomfortable.
Heavierdisplacementcombinedwithsmallerwaterplanearearesultsinloweraccelerations.

Lighterdisplacementrequireslesspower,lesssailarea,andislesscomfortable.
Lighterdisplacementcombinedwithlargerwaterplanearearesultsinhigheraccelerations.

SPEEDTOLENGTHRATIO

Foradisplacementboat,speedisafunctionofwaterlinelength.Themaximumtheoretical
speedisordinarilyassumedtobe1.34timesthesquarerootoftheLWL.

Velocity in Knots V
Speed to Length Ratio = =
Waterline Length LWL

ThetheoreticalmaximumSLRof1.34isthespeedthatapairofwavecrestscanmovethrough
thewater,whichisassumedtoapplytothebowandsternwavesgeneratedbythevessel's
motion.Abovethisnaturalwavetrainspeedtheboatisattemptingtoclimbitsownbowwave.

BoatshavingalowD/Lcanexceedthis(duetolesserwavemaking).BoatswithahighD/Lmay
notachievethistheoreticalmaximum(greaterwavemaking).
________________________________________

PRISMATICCOEFFICIENT

Theprismaticcoefficientistheratioofactualunderbodyvolumetothevolumeofaprism
havingalengthequaltotheDWL,andasectionequaltotheboat'smaximumsectionalarea.

Theprismaticcoefficientprovidesanindicationofthedistributionofdisplacement.Itisan
indicationofthefinenessoftheendsrelativetothemidsectionofthehull.Alowprismatic
meanstherearefineendsandlargemidbody.Ahighprismaticmeansthereismore
displacementdistributedtowardtheends.

Sincethefullnessorfinenessoftheendshasalargeeffectonwavemakingresistance,forany
givenspeedtolengthratiothereisanidealprismaticcoefficient.Asspeedincreasesandthe
bowandsternwavesrise,additionalbuoyancyintheendsbecomesmorefavorable.Since
racingyachtsaremoreoftendrivenathigherspeeds,theybenefitfromahigherprismatic.

Optimumprismaticcoefficientdependsontheexpectedspeedrange.

UptoSLRof1theleastresistanceiswithaprismaticof.53.
AtSLRof1.2theidealprismaticis.58.
AtSLRof1.35theidealprismaticis.62.
AtSLRof1.8theidealprismaticis.70.

PhilipsBirtandotherssuggestthatitisbettertoerronthehighsideinordertoallowtheleast
penaltyathigherspeed,sincelightwindsailingsufferslessfromahighprismaticthanfastsailing
suffersfromalowprismatic.
Sail

Opinionvariesregardingtherangeofidealprismaticcoefficients.Mostsourcessuggestthatfor
averageconditions,theoptimumprismaticisbetween.54and.56.

Lightwindsandcalmwaterfavoralowerrangeofabout.53to.55.
Heavywindsandoceansailingfavorahigherrangeofabout.55to.58.

Ahigherprismaticprovidesgreaterbuoyancyintheendsandimprovespitchdampening.An
asymmetricwaterplanealsoimprovespitchdampening,asdoeshavingsomeseparation
betweenthecenterofthewaterplaneandthecenterofbuoyancy.

Opinionalsovariesregardingwhetherthekeelshouldbeincludedwhenfiguringtheprismatic.
Itisgenerallyacceptedthatifthekeelcontributessignificantlytothedisplacementoftheends,
itshouldbeincluded.Conversely,thekeelshouldbeexcludedwhenfiguringtheprismaticfora
canoebodyandfinkeel,orwherethekeelisadistinctappendage.

Withafullbodiedsailboat,havinganintegralfullkeelthatfairsgraduallyintothehull,the
prismaticshouldincludethekeel.

Withawelldefinedkeel,whetherfullornot,ifyoufiguretheprismaticcoefficientforthehull
separately,youhaveamuchbetterideaoftheoverallshapeofthecanoebody.Inthiscasea
valuecanbegivenfortheprismaticbothwithandwithoutthekeel.

Ineithercase,thekeeldoescontributetothedynamicdisplacementofthehullasitmoves
throughthewater.

Power

Fordisplacementpowerboatsthesameoptimumprismatic/speedrangesasforsailboats
wouldapplyexceptthatitmaybeeasiertopredicttheusualoperatingspeed.Forplaning
powerboats,theoptimumprismaticishigher,asfollows:

Typicalplaningpowerboatsseemtofavorarangeoffrom.60to.70.
Semiplaningboatsseemtofavorarangeoffrom.60to.65.
Fullplaningboatsseemtofavorarangeoffrom.65to.70.

Planingismoreeasilyachievedwithahigherprismatic(displacementdistributedtowardthe
ends).Forplaningboatsmanyofthesameconsiderationsapplyasfordisplacementhulls.
SIMILITUDEOFSCALE

SurfaceAreavariesastheSquareoftheDimensions.(lxw)
Volume(Displacement)variesastheCubeoftheDimensions.(lxwxh)
StabilityvariesastheFourthPoweroftheDimensions.(lxwxhxrightingarm)

WettedSurfacevariesastheSquareoftheDimensions.
ResistancevariesastheCubeoftheDimensions.
SpeedvariesastheSquareRootoftheWaterlineLength.

SailAreavariesastheSquareoftheDimensions.(lxw)
WindPressurevariesastheSquareoftheWindSpeed.
HeelingMomentvariesastheCubeoftheDimensions.(lxwxheelingarm)

GMvariesastheCubeofchangesinBeamOnly.
GMvariesInverselywithChangesinDisplacementOnly.(lowersBM)

StabilityvariesastheFourthPoweroftheDimensions.
StabilityvariesastheSquareofchangesinBeamOnly.
StabilityvariesDirectlywithchangesinLengthOnly.
(ifotherdimensionsremainsame).