Resistance Prediction of Planing Hulls: State of the Art

Abstract

There are literally dozens of different ways that the boat designer can predict the resistance of planing hulls. The term planing hull is used generically to describe the majority of hard chine boats being built today. No single prediction method is good for all types of planing hulls. Some methods can be relied on to give good predictions for certain boats and other methods can't be relied upon at all. This paper is meant as a reference for designers in selecting resistance prediction methods for planing hulls. It describes numerous resistance prediction methods and gives their variable ranges and the type of planing hulls they are based on or are intended for. Inherent problems or limitations of the methods are stated. The concept of hull shape, which is often neglected in resistance prediction, and its important role are discussed.