Bubble to reduce hull/water drag?

[Ulladh]

Air bubble cushion for bulk carriers to reduce drag. I wonder anything applicable to reducing sailboat hull drag? Maybe we will see something like this in a future Americas Cup boat.

Bulk Carrier to Ride on Bubbles to Reduce CO2

[Fstbttms]

My guess is the weight and space required by the equipment to produce a cushion of air bubbles would likely eliminate any advantage they produce in a sailboat application.

[Barquito]

Cool idea. Maybe on a sailboat there could be an appendage that 'cavitates' air under the hull.

[Fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Barquito

Cool idea. Maybe on a sailboat there could be an appendage that 'cavitates' air under the hull.

Sounds real slow to me.

[Barquito]

Sounds real slow to me.

Probably. At the speeds of AC boats, maybe all it would take is an air scoop on deck that forces bubbles under the boat. Like a ram jet. Need speed to make speed. Although, I assume this would only be needed on displacement hulls anyway. Still, I like the idea of trickle-down technology from cargo ships down to AC boats.

[mdbee]

Mach 1 torpedo

Supercavitating Torpedo | Popular Science

[mitiempo]

It is not a new idea really. The late Lars Bergstrom and his partner Sven Ridder used it on Route 66 years ago. YW

Lars Bergstrom designed the unique rig on many Hunters and also the Windex at the top of most masts.

[NateKing]

Wouldn't this affect the buoyancy of the water causing the boat to float lower in the water?

[mitiempo]

It is a very thin layer of bubbles. Wouldn't even be noticable.

[Zanshin]

I flew a DG300 glider for a while which used the same principle, lots of pinhole sized holes in the wing which changed the boundary layer and transition from laminar flow. It was a great idea but one spent a lot of time before competition flights with a needle to unplug holes so I can imagine how difficult it would be to do the same thing underwater.