Take a Closer Look into Powerboating at Soundings Online

Semiplaning boats can meet many needs

Latitude 40 The boatbuilding industry holds a trade show every year called the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference, or IBEX. Although there are few boats on display, the show floor is filled with vendors selling the stuff used to manufacture them — fiberglass reinforcements, resins, electronics, windshields, seats and so on.
Just as big a draw for the boatbuilders, surveyors, naval architects and engineers who attend are the seminars on the latest developments in hull design, construction and repair, propulsion systems and more. I was asked to help conduct several seminars, including one on semiplaning boats. What you’ll read here is based on that seminar for which I was joined by Steve Dalzell, the chief naval architecture instructor at The Landing School in Arundel, Maine, and Winn Willard, vice president of C. Raymond Hunt Associates in New Bedford, Mass.

The stepped hull has come of age

The Metal Shark Fearless 40 turned well at high speed when Sorensen was aboard it at the Multi-Agency Craft Conference. The quest for speed has long been a sort of Holy Grail in powerboating, and the stepped hull has played a role in that pursuit. Stepped hulls have been around since 1910 or so, when powerboat pioneers Gar Wood and Christopher Columbus Smith (founder of Chris-Craft), among others, used them on hydroplanes. The hydroplanes featured a transverse notch, or step, in the bottom amidships that reduced wetted surface at high speeds, thereby reducing frictional resistance.

Passing the stepped-hull test

MPYD's stepped hull uses a tunnel with vertical side walls that act as mini keels. Michael Peters Yacht Design in Sarasota, Fla., is well-known — and well-regarded by me — for its high-performance conventional and stepped-bottom hulls. Peters has been on my radar for a number of years, and I had a chance to ride on one of the firm’s stepped military designs last June at the Navy’s Multi-Agency Craft Conference in Little Creek, Va. The weather was favorable and seas calm, but this 70-mph 40-footer went through its paces, including hard high-speed turns, without surprises.

Lean boats for lean budgets

These offerings will give you freedom, fun and a fast ride without denting your wallet.

When you talk about small boats, a lengthy list of benefits comes to mind. In the context of today’s fuel-conscious world, the efficiency of a single-engine boat from about 16 to 23 feet stands out as a pertinent plus for the owner.
This advantage has always existed with small boats, but it’s even greater these days with the use of lighter building materials and the influx of second-generation, fuel-efficient 4-strokes, as well as direct-injected 2-strokes. We’re talking about saving hundreds of dollars each season.

The simple approach to Down East efficiency

Eastern 31 If you’ve been thinking about a traditional-looking, economical boat from 18 to 35 feet and appreciate a little intelligent engineering and 21st century construction, read on about Eastern and Seaway boats, based in Milton, N.H. The company — Seaway is part of Eastern and is a February 2010 acquisition — had a few pleasant surprises to offer when I visited its facility this summer.

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