--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, Rob Denney <harryproa@...> wrote:
> The float has to be long(ish) so it is in the same wave train as the
> hull.
It is ingenious and simple. If you are concerned about drag, you could make the float the hull bottom. For as long as the hull is in the water, the shape would be the same as if you had a conventional hull and no sensor. Only if the hull flies does the sensor float rotate off the actual hull bottom. The connecting beam or beams don't have to run straight from the rotation axis to the float, they could be recessed into depressions in the hull. That would make the hull more complicated to build, though, so would only be worth the bother in an out and out racer.
The sensor float could also serve as a sacrificial double bottom in case of grounding. You would probably need to have a combination of tab and slot in hull and float to prevent the float from just being twisted out from under the hull under those conditions.
For a racer, have you ever considered making the weather hull quite deep and narrow? You would have more wetted surface area, but the small water plane area compared to displacement would also make the windward hull slower to follow wave contours and would therefore give you a slower roll response. In a lumpy sea, that might still work out to your advantage. In a cruiser, the extremely narrow windward hull would cut down on accommodation too much.
Regards
Robert Biegler