The Hickman Sea Sled is an inverted vee planing hull invented by
Albert Hickman
Albert Edgar Hickman (August 2, 1875 – February 9, 1943) was the seventeenth Prime Minister of Newfoundland and has the distinction of having served the shortest term of any Prime Minister.
Biography
Albert Hickman was born in Grand Bank ...
. The Sea Sled is a direct forerunner of the modern high speed
catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
or
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 ...
. The reduced friction is due to a "trapped" gas film between the hull surface and water. A similar effect is seen in super-cavitating torpedoes where a gas generator creates a film separation to water friction.
"A new type of vessel, which promises to revolutionize water craft and which takes the same place on the water that the automobile does on land" - ''Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'' 26 September 1914
See also
*
Cathedral hull
*
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 ...
*
Supercavitation propeller
References
* Campbell, Lorne
''Innovation in Small Craft Design - A Tribute'' The Royal Institute of Naval Architects Web Site.
* Gerr, Dave
"The Hickman Sea Sled: The Best High Speed Hull Ever? (article)"''Boatbuilder Magazine'' Sept/Oct 1998.
* Gerr, Dave. "Sea Sled Slides Again (article)." ''Boatbuilder Magazine'' Jan/Feb 2003
* Hall, Charles H. "Manufacturing Sea Sleds (article)." ''Motor Boat''. 10 Nov 1926
* Nelson, Curtis L. ''Hunters in the Shallows: A History of the PT Boat.'' 2003
* Seidman, David
100th issue of ''Wooden Boat'', May/June 1991.
External links
a 1925 Hickman Sea Sled
The Sea Sled Story circa 1985
Boat types
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