Which hull type do you prefer?

[loner]

Which hull design is best? Flat bottom, V bottom or some other?

[carlt]

Full displacement, double diagonal, honduras mahogany on rock-elm.

 

Edited to say: on the other hand, if you're ditch crawling, flat-bottomed is cheaper to dock.

Edited June 30, 2008 by carlt

[Gary Peacock]

Which hull design is best? Flat bottom, V bottom or some other?

 

That's a strange question without knowing what waters the boat is going to be used on, flat boats tend to suit UK ditch crawling but do not suit lumpy water or the more serious European waterways.

 

Hull style dictates cost, flat bottomed floating skips suit the UK ditch crawling market and are cheap to build so that is usually page one of the canal boatbuilders recipe book.

[larkshall]

Full displacement, double diagonal, honduras mahogany on rock-elm.

 

Edited to say: on the other hand, if you're ditch crawling, flat-bottomed is cheaper to dock.

 

 

Come on Carl and how much would that cost? Havent seen that layup in the UK in many a year, lastime i saw that was in Florida

[carlt]

Come on Carl and how much would that cost? Havent seen that layup in the UK in many a year, lastime i saw that was in Florida

I see it every time I arrive at the mooring:

 

[Liam]

Haven't you got rid of them old tyres yet!

[carlt]

Haven't you got rid of them old tyres yet!

Yes but I haven't taken a photo since arriving in Essex.

[loner]

I'm crawling the Intercoastal water way heading to NY, Erie Canal, Great lakes, Misissippi River, Gulf of Mexico and back to east coast of Florida. When this trip is done a narrowboat in the UK is next.

There are several hull types listed in narrowboats. Will be staying in the UK for a year or two.

[blackrose]

Although a chined hull is more expensive and ultimately preferable, there are advantages/disadvantages to both chined and unchined (slab-sided hulls).

 

As Gary pointed out, a chined hull will cope better with lumpy water and will also be less prone to currents which come across its beam - such as when entering a tidal river for example. However, I think an unchined hull may cope better in sidewinds - the square profile seems to 'grip' the water. Of course long bilge keels on a chined hull will do the same thing.

 

Both types will have advantages & disadvantages in shallow waters. An unchined hull will generally have a shallower draught in the middle (of its profile) than a chined hull of the same displacement, whereas a chined hull may have slightly shallower draught at the sides and find it easier to moor up in certain places.

 

But as others have said, it basically depends on what type of waters you want the boat for.

Edited June 30, 2008 by blackrose

[fuzzyduck]

Medium V, single Chine, long keel, and bilge keels, although I'd give up the bilge keels for a 2nd engine