[PCW] Air cushion between catamaran hulls

[hclews at aol.com]

I think the air cushioning thing is a matter of degree, all cats trap air 
between the hulls.   The pressure goes up with the square of the wind speed and 
the lift will depend on the area of the bridge deck.   Yesterday, we were 
running our 34' PDQ straight into 30-kt winds and I opened her up just to see what 
would happen, we were showed 19.5 knots on our GPS.   The ride was 
exceptionally smooth considering the 3-4' chop.   There was no doubt that we were getting 
some cushioning effect from the air trapped between the hulls.

But the fact that we've owned this boat for three years now and have only 
observed this effect a few times means that it's really not a big factor for a 
boat like this.   It is, however, a huge factor for those go-fast powercats 
running at 40-60kt speeds.

Henry Clews
aboard Sno' Dog - in Stuart, FL (enroute back from a 3-week Florida-loop 
cruise)
www.snodoglog.com





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