Peters on (Fast) Powerboats Part in Part 1 the Author Detailed a Consistent Approach to the Design Process, Concentrating on Moderate-V and Deep-V Hullforms
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Peters On (Fast) Powerboats Part In Part 1 the author detailed a consistent approach to the design process, concentrating on moderate-V and deep-V hullforms. Here, he concludes with 2 two additional high-performance hull types for which his office, Michael Peters Yacht Design, is justifiably famous: offshore racing catamarans and stepped-Vs. by Michael Peters In Part 1 (Professional BoatBuilder No. 126, page 38), Peters emphasized Artwork courtesy of MPYD the importance of balance, and the special significance of the K-value, in fast-powerboat design as practiced at MPYD. The K-value is a performance predictor derived via various formulas; Peters favors one developed by Cuban émigré Eduardo Reyes. It’s a constant based on boat type. Another valuable indicator is the speed-to-length ratio. For more on both factors, see Part 1—Ed. However, the boat failed to finish The Racing Cat races. So we made an effort to Racing catamarans of the 1970s, develop a better all-around boat, not and many well into the 1980s, had just a sprinter. a cross-section in which the width of Our next generation of cats, from the two sponsons was greater 1983 to ’90, featured more moderate than the width of the tunnel. Those proportions: specifically, the two dimensions came about because sponsons added up to a little more designers at the time feared their than the tunnel width. These boats, boats would blow over backward at built in Italy, of aluminum, ran at a speeds above 125 mph (201 kmh); reduced speed, but they won races [2]. they didn’t want to put too much lift in the tunnel. But, in fact, their tun- 1 nels, being relatively narrow, afforded little surface area for wing-in-ground effect. In 1981 I designed my first racing Above—In 2003, Callan Marine broke cat—with the opposite proportions; the 200-mph barrier with the first that is, a very wide wing for the Author Peters’s initial entry into the offshore raceboat ever to do so. The boat’s beam [Figure 1]. This cat was realm of racing cats came in 1981, with boat itself was a recycled and repowered fast: it set a world speed record of a boat that set a world speed record of Tencara 43 (a MPYD design; see specs 131 mph (211 kmh), with outboards, 131 mph, with outboards—a record that on page 58), a world champion in ’97. which stood for seven years. stood for seven years. 56 Professional BoatBuilder 2 Figure 4. 6 Dirty Laundry 46' Waterline length ........... 40' (12.2m) Speed (knots) .............. 142 S/L ratio ..................... 22.6 HP .............................. 3,600 Weight (half load) ......... 17,650 lbs Figure 3. (8,000 kg) LCG (station) ............... 7.5 Figure 7. CUV 41 Cat Weight/HP................... 5.5 lbs/hp (2.5 kg/hp) Victory 44 Cat Waterline length ........... 36.2' Deadrise @ T............... 18 (11m) Waterline length ........... 39' K ................................ 2.01 Speed (knots) .............. 107 (11.9m) S/L ratio ..................... 17.8 Speed (knots) .............. 143 S/L ratio ..................... 22.9 HP .............................. 1,700 5 Weight (half load) ......... 11,500 lbs HP .............................. 1,900 (5,216 kg) Weight (half load) ......... 10,350 lbs LCG (station) ............... 7.4 (4,695 kg) Weight/HP................... 6.8 lbs/hp LCG (station) ............... 7.6 (3.1 kg/hp) Weight/HP................... 5.4 lbs/hp Deadrise @ T............... 18 (2.4 kg/hp) K ................................ 2.065 Deadrise @ T............... 17.5 K ................................ 1.985 The aluminum CUV 41 represented but one design within a broad range of numerous, winning, second-generation 8 raceboats for MPYD. We built about 30, ranging in size from 38' to 45' (11.6m to 13.7m), and Dirty Laundry, launched in 1991, was won a number of major races. Note a next-generation raceboat, at once the K-value: 2.065 [3]. Note, too, the dependable and successful. Note the speed-to-length ratio: almost 18. But progression of wt/hp ratio. look where the center of gravity is: 74%. So we’re three-quarters of the way back for the balance of the boat. Above 135 mph, the boat took off, And, we’re below 7 lbs/hp (3.2 kg/ with a flat resistance curve; all our hp). It’s a pretty light, highly powered speed curves and calculations had boat. to be adjusted accordingly. By com- A Victory-built boat for Victory Team of The 46' (14m) Dirty Laundry, parison, the 48'/14.6m Gentry could Dubai. With this particular series, Peters launched in 1991, was a genera- run about 150 mph, tops. The dif- had settled on general proportions, and tional shift in racing cats [4, 5]. This ference between the two boats was all solved tunnel lift, for MPYD’s offshore boat’s owner insisted on a guaran- in the wing; the Gentry boat was a cats. Wing-in-ground effect enabled teed top speed of 130 mph; mean- “leftover” with a narrow wing. Our these boats to exceed 140 knots. Note ing, our design was obliged to do wing was 6' 6" (1.9m) wide. Dirty the sub-2 K-value. nothing less. The boat would be Laundry’s K-value is 2.01. Notice that competing against a Gentry Eagle the weight-to-horsepower ratio is now that had four 1,200-hp (900-kW) down in the 5.5-lb/hp (2.5-kg/hp) amount of lift they’re getting. We’ve engines, but in order for us to get region. now broken a K-value of 2, and the the dependability—the ability to By the time Tencara, based in S/L is 23 [7]. When you look at S/Ls finish races—we went with less Italy, began building our catamaran on our initial graph in Part 1, illustrat- power. We specified four 900-hp designs, we’d pretty well established ing what is widely considered to be (675-kW) engines coupled to two the basic proportions for a raceboat, high speed, an S/L of 5 was fast; here, Arneson drives. In trials, we broke and for tunnel lift [6–8]. Lightweight we’re four times that. the guarantee by 35 mph: Dirty advanced composites were specified In Figure 9 you see the ratio of Laundry reached 165 mph with a to achieve 5.5 lbs/hp. With ground tunnel width and how much width full fuel load of 300 gal (1,136 l), effect, these boats achieved speeds we were utilizing. When I started and was never run at wide-open greater than 140 knots. Notice how doing these raceboats I didn’t recog- throttle without a full fuel load. high they run on the chines: they’re nize that they were only about a five- How to account for this? We were out of the water all the way down year-old animal at the time. I was in ground effect for the first time. to the lower strakes, thanks to the young and thought they’d been octoBer/novemBer 2010 57 Figure 9. Figure 10. a monohull. A cat also suffers less impact for its deadrise. Whereas a standard deep-V monohull typically 1970–’80 1970–’80 has 24° of deadrise at the transom, a racing cat has about 18° aft. • Fuel location has changed over the years; the mass is now concen- 1980–’95 trated closer to the center of gravity 1980 and away from the transverse ends [10]. This arrangement eliminates the “walking” characteristics of the early 1995–2000 cats. That concentration of mass 1990 near the CG lowers the gyradius— in much the same way that sailboat Effect of Fuel Location designers of the 1970s moved weight in from the ends of raceboats in order 2000 Peters spent years on what he calls the to eliminate hobbyhorsing [12]. “path of discovery,” trying to determine • A surface drive runs with only the best tunnel beam and fuel loca- the lower half of the prop in the Tunnel Beam tion for MPYD’s high-speed cats. The water; its thrust is basically perpen- diagrams above illustrate evolutionary dicular to the blade. Using this thrust around longer than that and I was trends influenced by Peters designs. to lift the bow robs the boat of poten- simply getting my turn at it. So tial energy to move it forward. By there’s been this 25-, 30-year path trimming the bow down, the thrust is of discovery as to what’s the best boat is over. It’s like quitting racing at then more in line with the direction configuration. the right time. of the boat, and it supplies maximum In 2003 Callan Marine purchased Our office is no longer designing power to go forward. Because these an aging Tencara 43 (13.1m) cat, the these raceboats. The interest I had boats are generating their lift with the 1997 World Champion Jolly Motor, in them was technical. It wasn’t love tunnel, we’re not trying to generate and rerigged the boat with a pair of of the sport. I feel these boats are lift with the propeller. On a perfectly turbine engines [11]. The revamped mature designs now, and that there’s balanced boat, all the forces work boat became the first offshore not really anything of note left to do together instead of robbing power raceboat in history to break 200 mph with them. The design type has been from each other. The fastest boats (322 kmh). molded enough in enough different run with a 4°–6° negative drive angle. Callan Marine managed to have a directions so that if you look at the This negative angle helps the boat few successful runs over 200 mph—as other boats, they all start to look maintain a level attitude when air- high as 209 (336 kmh)—establishing the same.