In the Monte Carlo cup (very interesting by the way) are the boats using batteries in addition to the solar panels?  It occurs to me that the solar panels are mostly for show and that the boats would be lighter and faster without them.

Your solar race boat design looks really nice and I am curious. It seems to me that the hulls rocker shape will cause the bow to lift, reducing the waterline length of the boat and with the bow out of the water the front plate surface area will increase, further raising the bow and lowering the stern increasing the drag there. The design also appears to have a sharp edge chine which causes a lot of drag.

I would be curious at what the difference would be if the entire hull was flat (eliminate the rocker) and the chine was a nice radius curve. I bet the wetted surface would be very similar (increased a little), but the frontal flat plate area would be reduced, the waterline would be increased, the drag from the chine would be reduced, and the drag from the stern would be reduced. I think it would improve your L/D by a third.

And while I am ranting, it might be worth your while to round the edges of the deck and bow for improved aerodynamic efficiency. Airflow and water flow hate sharp edges.

But and this is a big but, at lower speeds, below 4 knots or so, none of the 'improvements' I suggested will make any difference at all and the increased wetted surface will increase the initial drag. Fun choices eh?

Talador

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