GENERALHULLFORMEQUATIONS

Displacement to Length Ratio =

Long Tons Displacement

. 01 LWL 3

LT

. 01 LWL 3

Prismatic Coefficient =

Cu. Ft. Displacement M idsection Area LWL

Am

LWL

Block Coefficient =

Cu. Ft. Displacement LWL WLB Body Draft

L B DB

Midsection Coefficient =

Midsection Area WLBeam Body Draft

Am WLB D B

Prismatic Coefficient =

Block Coefficient M idsection Coefficient

C C

Waterplane Coefficient =

Thesearealldimensionlesscoefficientsofform,whichthereforeallowcomparisonwithother boats,orevenwithmodels,independentoftheirdifferencesinsize.

WP Area LWL WLB

COEFFICIENTSOFFORM

DISPLACEMENTTOLENGTH
Rangesfor/L(DisplacementtoLength)havebeenslowlyredefinedovertheyears,tending towardlighterdisplacementswithineachrange.

Sail
LightMultiHulls UltraLightRacers LightRacers LightCruisers&OffshoreRacers MediumWeightCruisers HeavyCruisers 4050 100150 150200

200275 275325 325400

Power
LightDisplacement 75200 MediumDisplacement 200300 HeavyDisplacement 300400 Heavierdisplacementrequiresmorepower/moresailarea. Heavierdisplacementismorecomfortable.

SPEEDTOLENGTHRATIO
Foradisplacementboat,speedisafunctionofwaterlinelength.Themaximumtheoretical speedisordinarilyassumedtobe1.34timesthesquarerootoftheLWL.

Speed to Length Ratio =

Velocity in Knots Waterline Length

ThetheoreticalmaximumSLRof1.34isthespeedthatapairofwavescanmovethroughthe water,assumedtoapplytothebowandsternwavesgeneratedbythevessel'smotion.Above thisspeedtheboatbeginstotrytoclimbitsbowwave. BoatshavingalowD/Lcanexceedthis(lesserwavemaking).BoatswithahighD/Lmaynot achievethistheoreticalmaximum(greaterwavemaking). ________________________________________

V LWL

PRISMATICCOEFFICIENT
Theprismaticcoefficientistheratioofactualunderbodyvolumetothevolumeofaprism havingalengthequaltotheDWL,andasectionequaltotheboat'smaximumsectionalarea. Theprismaticcoefficientprovidesanindicationofthedistributionofdisplacement. Itisanindicationofthefinenessoftheendsrelativetothemidsectionofthehull. Alowprismaticmeansfineendsandlargemidbody. Ahighprismaticmeansthereismoredisplacementdistributedtowardtheends. Foranygivenspeedtolengthratio,thereisanidealprismaticcoefficient. Fullnessorfinenessoftheendshasalargeeffectonwavemakingresistance. Optimumprismaticcoefficientdependsontheexpectedspeedrange. UptoSLRof1theleastresistanceiswithaprismaticof.53. AtSLRof1.2theidealprismaticis.58. AtSLRof1.35theidealprismaticis.62. AtSLRof1.8theidealprismaticis.70.

Sail
Opinionvariesregardingtherangeofidealprismaticcoefficients.Mostsourcessuggestthatfor averageconditions,theoptimumprismaticisbetween.54and.56. Lightwindsandcalmwaterfavoralowerrangeofabout.53to.55. Heavywindsandoceansailingfavorahigherrangeofabout.55to.58. Thehigherprismaticgivesgreaterbuoyancyintheends,anddisplacementintheends contributesfavorablytostability. PhilipsBirtandotherssuggestthatitisbettertoerronthehighsideinordertoallowtheleast penaltyathigherspeed,sincelightwindsailingsufferslessfromalowprismaticthanfastsailing suffersfromalowprismatic. Opinionalsovariesregardingwhetherthekeelshouldbeincludedwhenfiguringtheprismatic. Itisgenerallyacceptedthatifthekeelcontributessignificantlytothedisplacementoftheends, itshouldbeincluded.Conversely,thekeelshouldbeexcludedwhenfiguringtheprismaticfora canoebodyandfinkeel. Withafullbodiedsailboat,havinganintegralfullkeelthatfairsgraduallyintothehull,the prismaticshouldincludethekeel. Withawelldefinedkeel,whetherfullornot,ifyoufiguretheprismaticcoefficientforthehull separately,youhaveamuchbetterideaoftheoverallhullshape.Inthiscaseavaluecanbe givenfortheprismaticbothwithandwithoutthekeel. Ineithercase,thekeeldoescontributetothedynamicdisplacementofthehullasitmoves throughthewater.

Power
Fordisplacementpowerboatsthesamerangesasforsailboatswouldapply,exceptthatitmay beeasiertopredicttheusualoperatingspeed. Typicalplaningpowerboatsseemtofavorarangeoffrom.60to.70. Semiplaningboatsseemtofavorarangeoffrom.60to.65. Fullplaningboatsseemtofavorarangeoffrom.65to.70. Planingismoreeasilyachievedwithahigherprismatic(agreaterdistributionofdisplacement towardtheends).Forplaning,manyofthesameconsiderationsapplyasfordisplacement hulls.

SIMILITUDEOFSCALE
SurfaceAreavariesastheSquareoftheDimensions.(lxw) Volume(Displacement)variesastheCubeoftheDimensions.(lxwxh) StabilityvariesastheFourthPoweroftheDimensions.(lxwxhxrightingarm) WettedSurfacevariesastheSquareoftheDimensions. ResistancevariesastheCubeoftheDimensions. SpeedvariesastheSquareRootoftheWaterlineLength. SailAreavariesastheSquareoftheDimensions. WindPressurevariesastheSquareoftheWindSpeed. HeelingMomentvariesastheCubeoftheDimensions. GMvariesastheCubeofchangesinBeamOnly. GMvariesInverselywithChangesinDisplacementOnly. StabilityvariesastheFourthPoweroftheDimensions. StabilityvariesastheSquareofchangesinBeamOnly. StabilityvariesDirectlywithchangesinLengthOnly (ifotherdimensionsremainsame).