Hydrofoil Passenger Craft
A hydrofoil: a craft that lifts its hull clear of the water as speed rises, leaving resistance behind.
Overview
A hydrofoil works through foils mounted beneath the hull. As speed rises those foils generate lift and the hull rises clear of the water, removing most of the drag.
The gain is much higher speed for the same power. The price is wave tolerance: above a certain wave height the foils break the surface, the craft settles back on its hull, and the service is cancelled.
That is why hydrofoils spread in sheltered waters and on short routes. The vehicle's success depends less on its technology than on the weather of the geography it works in.
Details
- Brand
- Rodriquez Cantieri Navali
- Category
- Hydrofoil
- Body
- Hydrofoil passenger craft
- Propulsion
- dizel
- Produced
- 1956–