What is a hydrofoil?
A hydrofoil, not to be confused with a hovercraft, is a waterborne vessel that uses underwater wings to generate lift in the same way that a plane uses wings to generate lift in air. Foil is another word for wing. A foil generates a region of negative pressure immediately above it, producing lift. This lift elevates the hull from the surface of the water, supporting it on vertical struts attached to the foils underneath. When the hydrofoil reaches a critical speed, the entire body of the hull sails along without touching the water. When the hull is suspended, it is not necessary for the engine to expend much energy to overcome water resistance. The foils are the only part of the ship which continue to produce drag through the water. Because they literally fly through the water, hydrofoils are capable of high speeds, having set worldwide records for both conventional and human-powered boating. A hydrofoil held the world water speed record between 1919 and 1929. Interestingly enough, thi
A hydrofoil is a watercraft that is supported on ski-like pontoons while in motion, with the bulk of the hull remaining entirely above the water (Encarta Encyclopedia 2002). The picture below shows a basic idea of how hydrofoils work as well as some different kinds of hydrofoils. To see more from this web page visit http://www.RudimentsOfWisdom.com Hydrofoils were first seen about in 1869. Emmanuel Denis Farcot was issued a patent on a boat that he had developed to go faster through the water because of less resistance. If you look at his design, he was using many little foils along the side of his boat to lift it out of the water in order to reduce the drag on the hull of the boat. The drawing of Farcot’s boat is seen below. More pictures and information at http://www.foils.org/gallery/early.htm Hydrofoils are not only used on boats. Guidoni and Croco took the idea of hydrofoils and put then on seaplanes. Their main reason for puting foils on the plane was to make the landings smoothe
“. You will get a myriad of answers, but not many will be correct. One can expect everything from: “I dunno!”, to: “Oh, I was on one of those crossing the English Channel last summer. You know – one of those boats with a big rubber bag around it and air spewing out all around”. Well, our world traveler was not on a hydrofoil, but rather one of the SRN-7 air cushion vehicles that regularly transit the Channel. Other travelers will swear that they were on a hydrofoil when in actuality, it was only a catamaran. The layman’s mistake in the latter case is understood since the center portion of a catamaran’s hull is indeed raised above the water surface, but by its side hulls, not by a foil, or “underwater wing”, which characterizes a hydrofoil craft! One of the purposes of this book, therefore, is to make certain that the reader, whether a world traveler or not, will never make any mistake about knowing when he is on a hydrofoil, or merely some other high speed boat. Of course, the intent i
HYDROFOIL 1. A ship or boat design that lifts the hull above the water as speed increases, thereby lessening friction and increasing speed. 2. Any ship or boat so designed. A boat which makes use of a hydrofoil looks like a boat with ‘feet’. As the boat gains speed it rises out of the water and moves along on the feet, thus less contact area on the water (reducing drag) and greater speeds can be achieved, using less energy.
