I was told that water is something like 800 times denser than air, so a boat with 2-1/2" of less wetted surface should have a speed advantage in flat water over a longer boat with the same OAL to tunnel length and attack angle/compression ratio.









I think....

after reading all your "rocket science" replies, I've concluded that most of you should be more worried about your 2/12' shortages in another place...

put it on a tread mill

I'll take it !!

Say the boats are running 100 MPH
Race lasts 1/2 hour
I win by 1/4 mile....

thats why a 36 nor tech is 37.8 perfect

Regardless of one's current stature, the addition of 2.5" is always good.

you wouldn't be adding 2.5" of wetted surface though... think of a beak on a fountain... does that really effect the running surface?

and you are right, dry air at sea level is 1/800 the density of water (approx)......

swim platforms don't count...

Weeellllll, not exactly.....even if this 2.5" was directly centered on the apparent C.G. (combined C.G. and C.L.), shorter means:
Less aero drag = good
Less aero lift = bad
less direct hydrodynamic surface drag = good
less lift = less dynamic buoyancy = more drag = bad

It's a wash. Net result = approximately zero.

Let's put it this way, those 2.5 inches will amount to whether or not you emptied the change in your pockets.

i doubt if percentage of lift directly corresponds to percentage of velocity.... but your right, if you were 0.5% faster you would win by that distance, but just having 0.5% more lift doesn't mean anything by itself... you could have too much lift and have to slow down...