A sailboat includes a canting ballast system configured to rotate with respect to a hull. The sailboat includes the hull having a port side and a starboard side, and an external surface. An arcuate member is coupled to the starboard and port sides extending above the hull. The canting ballast system includes at least one rotatable member coupled to the external surface and to the arcuate member. The system further includes a first strut having a first end and a second end, and a second strut having a first end and a second end wherein the first ends are coupled to the rotatable member. The system also includes at least one ballast. The second ends are coupled to the ballast such that an angle is defined between the first and second struts. The sailboat also includes a drive system coupled to the canting ballast system wherein the at least one drive system is configured to rotate the canting ballast system with respect to the hull.

Sailboat with a canting ballast system

A hull for a boat, for example a sailboat, has a sharply angled front or bow with a curved center crest line providing a entry into the water during forward motion. Sides of the bow are concave. The main body of the hull is shaped as a semicircle in transverse cross section. The upper edge of the hull has a flare that extends laterally outward to form wings along both sides of the hull. The wings begin adjacent the front or bow and gradually increase in the extent of their lateral extension at a mid-position the hull and adjacent the stern. The stern has an angled end extending rearward at the bottom of the hull. A step is provided at the stern. The deck extends from the upper edge of the hull to the edges of the cockpit. The cockpit has curved inside surfaces and a center beam extending along the center of the boat, the center beam having sloping surfaces. An open transom permits water to flow from the cockpit.

Winged hull for a watercraft

A shaped hull with a fixed angle keel with respect to the hull that when heeled, orients the keel to an angle of attack substantially related to the heel angle. The angle of attack being sufficient to create on the keel a lateral force substantially equal and opposite to the lateral force derived from the wind. The submerged portion of the hull, however, remains symmetrical and oriented parallel to the course sail as is its associated drag contribution vector. Thereby reducing or substantially eliminating the lateral force generated by the hull and the associated drag contribution. The movement of the shaped hull induces a lateral force on the keel without generating a lateral force and its associated drag on the hull, thus providing a sailboat with reduced drag without resorting to the prior art methods and their associated disadvantages.

Patrick Craig Muldoon

Papers

Sailboat hull and method for reducing drag caused by leeway