A cathedral hull is a
hull shape used in modern boats, usually power-driven. It has
sponsons
Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing.
Watercraft
On watercraft, a spon ...
which extend almost as far forward as the main hull. The airspace between the hulls may be very small or nonexistent.
Depending on the proportions of the sponsons and the depth of the main hull, the cathedral hull can approach the handling characteristics of either the
Hickman sea sled
The Hickman Sea Sled is an inverted vee planing hull invented by Albert Hickman. The Sea Sled is a direct forerunner of the modern high speed catamaran or tunnel hull. The reduced friction is due to a "trapped" gas film between the hull surface a ...
, or the
vee hull. The naval architect first credited with the successful use of the deep-vee hull form,
C. Raymond Hunt
C. Raymond Hunt Associates (doing business as Ray Hunt Design) is an American naval architecture design firm, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The company specializes in the design of fiberglass sailboats and powerboats.
The company was f ...
, was involved in the design of the original 13’
Boston Whaler
Boston Whaler is an American boat manufacturer. It is a subsidiary of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation. Boston Whalers were originally produced in Massachusetts, hence the name, but today are manufactured in Edge ...
. It is cathedral hulled forward, but nearly a flat-bottomed
scow
A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...
at the stern.
The term "cathedral hull" refers to the resemblance of a section through an inverted boat to that of a medieval
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
.
Characteristics
The cathedral hull configuration tends to result in a very broad bow; many such boats are completely rectangular. This provides the maximum cargo or working space for a given length and beam. The hull shape is also very stable compared to a conventional v-shaped bottom, and in either light chop conditions or above or so in certain conditions can be faster than a flat bottom, for the same weight, length and beam.
Cathedral hulls became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, when the use of
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
made economical production of this hull-form possible. The undesirable aspects of the cathedral hull are greater weight and cost, pounding in rough water, and a boxy appearance. Their advantages include high
waterplane area at rest (good initial
stability
Stability may refer to:
Mathematics
*Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems
**Asymptotic stability
**Linear stability
**Lyapunov stability
**Orbital stability
**Structural stabilit ...
) a dry ride in light chop, and reasonable fuel economy at
planing speeds. In exposed waters this hull form has been almost totally replaced by the modified-V and deep-V hull forms. After a period of reduced popularity, they live on in modified form as "deck boats" which are very popular in the inland lakes and rivers.
The Cathedral hull design was originated by Naval Architect Richard C. Cole for Thunderbird boats in North Miami, Florida in 1958.
See also
*
Tunnel hull
A tunnel hull is a type of boat hull that uses two typically planing hulls with a solid centre that traps air. This entrapment then creates aerodynamic lift in addition to the planing (hydrodynamic) lift from the hulls. Many times this is attribute ...
*
Supercavitation propeller
*
Hull
References
* http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cathedral+hull
* https://web.archive.org/web/20101130124019/http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/reviewpages/boatusf/project/info1b.htm
* http://www.huntdesigns.com/rayhunt.htm
;Specific
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Shipbuilding