ness because the added hull volume provides reserve before heavy seas at low speeds.

A good-sized skeg

buoyancy to lift the heavier weights of stores, chain, alle\^ates this problem greatly
anchors, and gear when the boat is dnving into heavy
seas. A full deck-line also tends to keep the decks dry

and pro\1des a wider working platform, so it makes

Buttocks
good sense on an out-and-out cruising yacht.
Displacement motorboats have the maximum The buttock lines that we are concerned with in
beam at or just forward of midships, and the forward sailing yachts are the quarter buttocks, those about
waterline shapes resemble those of the sailing yacht. 25% of the beam out from the centerline and in the

The lines are fairly fine forward and double-ended or aft quarter. Sailboats should show easy buttocks
almost double-ended aft, similar to the lines of a sail- without excess rounding up in the quarters. Modern,
boat. Cruising motoryachts may have slight fullness light-displacement racing yachts, with their wide,
forward because the added resistance this creates is flattish transoms carried low to the LWL, have
not as serious as it is in sailboats due to the reserves extremely long, straight, and easy buttocks indeed
of power available. In some displacement hulls when compared vAlh older, heavier hulls. Modem
designed for speed/length ratios below 1.34, and racing sailboats can achieve ver)' high speeds when
where economy of operation is critical, a pnsmatic reaching and running as a result and are generally
coefficient of .54 is desirable. This requires fine ends, faster to windward as well.

as in sailing craft, with half angles of entrance as tight Moderate-displacement sailboats with their

as possible. Like the sailing yacht, the waterlines on deeper, heavier hulls show more rounding in the aft

powerboats fill out as the deck level is approached, buttocks. Still, the run should be as straight as possi-
and the deckline itself may be very full indeed, ble for about one-eighth to one-quarter of the water-
almost rounded. This keeps spray down when lins length forward of the aft end of the LWL. At this

motoring into a chop and provides added interior point it fairs easily into the midship sections. The
volume, greater deck space, and reser\'e buoyancy. very husky double-ender of the old Colin Archer or
Semiplaning and planing powerboats usually have Tahiti type had heavily rounded buttocks aft, but this

theirmaximum beam somewhat ahead of midships, produces a slow boat due to the short, steep run.
and their forward waterlines may be quite full. These Also, such craft may be prone to dragging a large
boats get up at speed and ride over the seas, so they quarter wave, which creates considerable extra resis-
do not require the fine waterlines of displacement tance, and their short, narrow ends may lack reserve
powerboats. Semiplaning (or semidisplacement) buoyancy and so be subject to pooping in extreme
hulls generally show a narrowing of the waterlines or conditions.
chine aft from the maximum beam to the transom Displacement motorboats have buttock lines that
because this gives a prismatic coefficient suitable to resemble those of the modern racing sailboat aft, ris-

their low- to medium-speed performance. On the ing from midships to a transom that is only lightly, if

other hand, high-speed planing hulls carry their at all, immersed. The heavier the displacement of the
width aft to the transom with little or no narrowdng boat, the steeper the buttock lines aft, because they
of the waterlines or chine. This provides the maxi- rise from a deep midship section to a shoal transom.
mum area for lift at planing speeds, but the wide When a higher speed/length ratio is required, in the
stern can cause steering problems when motoring range of semidisplacement speeds, the midship sec-

UNDERSTANDING BOAT DESIGN

34