Boatbuilders and designers are constantly seeking out ways to improve their creations, and where one leads, others often follow. Here are a few example of features that are becoming commonplace on production boats. Are they design fads, or much-needed developments? You decide.
HULL CHINES
Look closely at a number of this year’s new boats, and you’ll notice something unusual about their stern quarters. On certain boats the curve of the rounded sections is interrupted by a hard angle, usually about a foot above the waterline and running forward for several feet before merging into the topsides. This is a chine, and it is one of the latest go-fast features to trickle down from top-level racing boat designs. On a lightweight performance boat, such a chine adds a little hydrodynamic lift that helps…
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Sail - New Boat & Gear Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2019