and the smaller the wavemaking resistance. to 2.5.

Examples are Maine lobsterboats, some light-

Generally, for sailboats, ratios under 100 are con- weight, fast dinghies and daysailers, and many older

sidered to be ultralight, 100 to 200 is light, 200 to power cruisers.

300 is moderate, 300 to 400 is hea\7, and over 400 is The planing hull runs at S/L ratios of over 2.5 up
ultrahea\y by todays standards. Most cruising sail- to 10 or more (let me off!). These boats have hard
boats fall into the moderate range. Powerboats may chines and wide transoms to provide the needed lift

vary between planing hulls with ratios below 170 or so they can get "over the hump" and plane on top of

so and semiplaning hulls in the 180 to 250 range. the water. Typical planing hulls are the modem mn-
abouts, sportfishing boats, and express cruisers. A
Sail Area/ Displacement Ratio —The sail area in
very few ultraUght and super-stable sailboats can
square feet dnided by the displacement in cubic feet
achieve planing speeds on occasion, given a good
to the 2/3 power, or SA/Dcf ""' . Ratios much below
breeze and a flat sea.
1 5 indicate a lightly canvassed boat and are suited to

motorsailers. Offshore cruisers have ratios in the 15 Comfort Ratio — I dreamed this one up, tongue in
to 16 range, coastal cruisers 16 to 17. Ocean racers cheek, for a magazine article some years ago. How-
may fall in the 17 to 20 range, while ratios over 20 ever, it is now accepted by many as a measure of the
are usually given only to daysailers, class racers, and motion comfort of a boat and, between boats of simi-
other high-performance boats. lar size and type, can provide a reasonable guide. It is

based on the fact that the quickness of motion or

Speed/ Length Ratio —We ran into this term in
corkiness of a hull in a choppy sea is what causes dis-
the discussion of prismatic coefficients. It is given by
comfort and seasickness. That corkiness is deter-
the formula V/Vl. For example, a 400-foot LWL ship
mined by two main factors: the beam of the hull and
traveling at 20 knots has a speed/length ratio of 1.0,
the area of the waterline. The formula is as follows:
as does a 36-foot LWL sailboat moving at a leisurely 6
knots. On the other hand, a 40-foot LWL motorboat Displacement
65 X (.7LWL+.3LOA) x B " -333
moving at 20 knots has a S/L ratio of 3.16.

All boats can be divided into three general cate-

where Displacement is measured in pounds and LWL
gories depending upon their maximum S/L ratios.
and LOA are measured in feet. Lightweight boats and
Displacement hulls obtain no lift from their speed.
smaller yachts that have a higher beam/length ratio
Their maximum S/L ratio is 1.34. After that, despite
will rate poorly on the comfort scale while, as we
added power, they just dig the stem in and go little, if
would expect, heav)' oceangoing cruisers rate more
any, faster. Typical displacement boats are ocean lin-
favorably. The ratio ranges from 10 or less for a light-
ers, tugs, trawlers, sailboats, canoes, and rowboats.
weight day cmiser up to the higher 50s or 60s for a
The semidisplacement (or semiplaning) hull is
husky double-ender such as the old Colin Archer
usually characterized by round bilges and a transom
sailing pilot boats. Average ocean cmisers come up
wide enough to provide some lift from the water flow
somewhere in the mid-30s.
beneath the hull. Such a boat is capable of high
speeds, and has a maximum S/L ratio of 1.5 or so up

UNDERSTANDING BOAT DESIGN