Abstract

LOVEDAY, H.N.; MIGEOTTE, G.  and  VON BACKSTROM, T. W.. The Design of a Hydrofoil System for Sailing Catamarans. R&D j. (Matieland, Online) [online]. 2008, vol.24, pp.12-18. ISSN 2309-8988.

This paper describes an investigation into the effect of the addition of lifting foils on the total hydrodynamic resistance of a sailing catamaran hull representative of those produced in South Africa. A canard lifting foil configuration with main foil amidships and front foil at the bow was chosen. This configuration was found to be stable across the speed range without a trim and ride-height control The effect of leeway and heel both with and without the lifting foils was investigated. Experimental testing was conducted using towing tank testing, and results from this were verified numerically. The hull and foils were modelled separately using thin ship theory and vortex lattice methods combined with empirical equations for viscous drag. The canard configuration provided a reduction in resistance above a displacement Froude number of 2. The effects of leeway and heel were shown to depend strongly on hull shape, so no universal trends could be observed, and these effects were shown to be dramatically altered by the addition of the lifting foils.

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