A cathedral hull is a

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

shape used in modern boats, usually power-driven. It has sponsons 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 ...

, or the vee hull. The naval architect first credited with the successful use of the deep-vee hull form, C. Raymond Hunt, 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 Edg ...

. 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 denominations ...

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 cl ...

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 sta ...

) 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.

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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral Hull Shipbuilding

Characteristics

See also

References