If I am reading your question correctly, it is why does your boat GPS at a higher speed than this equivalent boat. First and foremost speed comparisons need to be made on equivalent days and equivalent weights, temperature, humidity, course conditions etc. A lot was made of the tightness of the LOTO course, the boat wakes and the acceleration portion of the shootout. I don't believe you saw actual top speeds from most of the boats but rather maximum speed atttained after the acceleration portion. The only way to measure your boat against another is in true apples to apples comparisons.

H2o Warrior: As to the Sutphen statements....Ocean Spray was a Scarab not a Sutphen. The last Sutphen kilo record was in Factory 2 and was broken , I believe, only in the past 2 years. The Sutphen set that record in the late 90's even while racing against almost exclusively step bottom boats. The latest business plan that I keep referring to which basically encourages major boat manufacturer sponsorship "advantages" has made it more politically and financially advantagious for a racer to campaign and promote a series approved sponsor's(Donzi, Formula, Cigarette, and Fountain depending upon the moon phase) hull than a small builders....hence my cautionery comments about not believing everything you read.......... Most recently the new Skater Vee was not allowed to run in Super Vee Lite at Key West, even with approved Mercruiser 525 packages, because it was not good politically or marketing wise for the sanctioning body to have it beat GM Vortec powered boats.....especially in light of the GM "Series Sponsorship" press release following immediately on the heels of that race. This is certainly good business, but doesn't mean that Vortecs are faster than Mercruiser 525's.

Finally Tom: Peter is a friend of mine and I respect him and his ability greatly. He is certainly the foremost race boat designer builder in the world at present. That does not mean that I blindly agree with everything he does. Both he and I have made honest mistakes in creating boats.....and we agree to disagree.

My issues with the Bat boat have more to do with the fanaticism that it engenders than in its design. The little devil does a number of things well....and a number of things not so well. Therein is the problem.......... According to its proponents it is faster, safer, better in rough water, blah blah blah. Fine! Say 10 Hail Ocke's and leave the rest of us alone. But I have seen people carried out of them with severe back injuries, know of people who were in one when it stuffed at the Miami boat show, and seen racers unintentionally cut off by one in boat races due to the aforementioned directional stability issues.

On the other hand I believe it is faster than most equivalent size vee bottoms, with the exception of the Buzzi RIB, which got the better of it in most head up competitions that I personally witnessed. As to whether a 28 Bat boat is faster than a 28 Skater, I strongly doubt it, but maybe in Europe there is a one that goes 128. In Europe they also use Formula 1 and Drag power heads that put out considerably more than 300 hp and spin at up to 9500 RPM...... I'm talking pure apples to apples.
If a twin outboard Bat boat beats a 28 Skater day in and day out ....That's great...and I will stand corrected. Until then it will stand in my mind as a cute little odyssey and a never ending attempt to make a monohull overcome its basic limitations in comparison to a cat....while losing most of the advantages like cockpit room ...and a cabin.

T2x

The APBA F1 Kilo is held by a Stepp bottom boat. Is that anything like a step bottom boat? I agree that Stepp's are faster.

Sutphen F2 record was in 98 or 99, not that long ago. Doug Lewis was on the throttles and they carried the weight of a third person. I'd love to see them out there racing again. With the rough water schedule they'd kick a lot of a$$.

T2x,
That was a great post as were so many of the other 50 of yours I read last night. You really know your stuff. As regards the comedy/pissing contest, it was geat fun but I need to drink a lot of water before i can get the little thing to work again.;) I really know very little about boat technology and am truly just curious and interested, even niave and gullable.

I really like this thread. So far I have learned:

The nina, pinta, and santa maria must have had steps since boards are only 12 feet long and the overlap during construction creates steps. I wonder if it goes all the way back to the Viking Ships and that's where Ocke got it from.

Steps were invented way back in the late 1800's or early 1900's, supposedly made the boats go faster - maybe because they were so heavy in the water. Some guys posted some cool historical pictures that got overlooked by the contest and we should all go back and take another look at them.

Steps were tried off and on until the boom in the ninetys with varying success. Not much solid evidence has been published as to why or how they work.

Marketing departments caused the boom in steps and most of them were either afterthoughts on existing boats or poorly designed ones. Some great builders went along with the boom. Seems like the stock market had the same experience. What's with the nineties and sheep like behavior?

There are so many factors that it is really hard to identify direct cause effect for any one component. To me that's what makes boating such a blast; 100, 80, 60, even 30 in a boat seems so much faster and more fun than in a car or airplane, especially in rough water.

Steps make the boat less stable and cause spin outs. I'd really like to hear more about that. Is it worth the ? mph gain? What is the mph gain? I think this is the main point T2x has been trying to make.

People have gone to great lengths to effect the wetted surface and even the aerodynamics to the point of obsurdity. Speed rails seem like one of those since the thread about them is not so positive. Ocke seemed ambivalent when I asked him and he let go of the patent. Mike J. said they were removed from the RainX boat, i'd love to hear more from Mike. Some of those attempts have lead to the phenominal increase in speed over the last decade. I was reading the Skater site last night and in the early nineties it was a big deal to break 100, today they are trying 200. I love the attempts to push the edge, others want it to stay the same.

batboat owners are at least as fanatical as cigarette, fountain, skater, etc., but are stuck between V and cat fans so have nobody but themselves to defend their point of view, which is a very strange point indeed. Men are from mars and women are from Venus (derived from other threads). V boats look like a penis, cats like a vagina, maybe that's why the owners will never understand each other. Does that make batboat guys hermaphrodites?

In a few years all of our boats will be antiques and people will marvel at the crazy things we tried. Maybe one or two of our attempts will be part of the next technology. I can't imagine any more fun than today and can't wait to get back in my boat. I would love a ride in somebody elses and will gladly take just about anybody for a ride in mine just to share the fun. What really sucks about mine though is if you are over 6'1" you can't fit.

I THINK SUTPHEN HELD THE F2 KILO RECORD '97 '98 &'99 WITH NO STEPS AND STILL DON'T HAVE STEPS. OF COURSE THAT WAS WITH OUT OF BOX FROM MERCRUISER HP 500'S. OH THOSE WERE THE DAYS OF A TEAMS DRIVING AND A BOAT DESIGN WHEN YOU WON ON YOUR OWN MERITS. OTHER TEAMS HAD CLOSED ENGINE COMPARTMENTS, GUTLESS CHARGING SYSTEMS AND ON AND ON. IT'S JUST COMPANIES TELLING JOHNQ PUBLIC THAT HE REALLY NEEDS STEPS BECAUSE BASICALLY THEIR DESIGNS ARE JUST CARBON COPIES OF EACH OTHER. STEPS ARE FOR BOATS THAT WON'T RIDE ON TOP OF THE WATER. I AM SURE THAT I HAVE MADE SOME PEOPLE MAD. BUT I THINK T2X WOULD AGREE.

You won't make anyone mad unless you keep posting all caps.:)

If there really are competitive boats that have bucked the trend for steps that sure would prove the non-step fans correct. You can't include pads though because aren't they just another way to do the same thing, reduce wetted surface and change the attitude in the water?

I know it is off topic, but then so has a lot of this thread been;) , but those pad bottom boats; do they spin out? how do they land? handle rough water?

Tom:

Welcome back to earth. We really aren't from different planets after all, and your synopsis was very well thought out and written.......

The pad bottoms are a legitimate variant on the vee bottom design in that they do increase speed, in some cases dramatically. The pad provides a stable surface for the boat to ride on (semi flat) at high speed, rather than an unstable surface (20-26 degree vee point). Basically the fastest planing surface is flat and at no more than a 5 degree attack angle or less. That is why Ski Racing runabouts (SK's) utilize that simple design so successfully. The price, of course, is unacceptably hard impacts in rough water. The Vee on the other hand sacrifices more speed with each increasing degree of deadrise........(all things being equal) ..... and the strakes (which were originally called "steps" by the way, as in Glastron's early "V Step" hull designations) were added to offset this speed loss while adding needed stability, and made the vee design practical as a concept (Thank you's to Ray Hunt). Strake placement and size is another variable that few people really understand.

The Vee-Pad hull was originally created by Paul Allison and I characterized that as the first real evolutionary moment in modern Vee bottom history. (See "Great Moments in Vee Bottom History"........a thread available in OSO's archives). Steve Stepp
started out racing Allisons and successfully grafted the concept to Offshore designs. George Linder's peerless 21' Challenger hull (Which later became our Shadow 21) actually predated the Velocity, I believe, but also utilized a smaller pad area with more deadrise.

During the early OPC race years( 1960-80) horizontal steps(todays topic) were illegal on Factory vee hulls, so there was a curiosity around their speed potential (That's basically why George and I experimented with them in 1981). This rules logic dated back to the early race craft pictured above in this thread, and at the Antique Race events. Since they worked to some extent in speeding up Gar Wood, they were always considered a speed increasing appendage, or modification.....( in some cases they were actually added on to an existing hull). They undeniably do two things. (1)Create a break in the planing surface for better or worse and (2)introduce bubbles or voids in the area immediately aft of their placement (If not sufficiently ventilated to allow this, they actually reduce speed through drag and vacuum effects). My points, as you said, are based around these two phenomenon. (1) The speed increases, at best, are illusive and, at worst, non existent. (2) The loss of contact with the water surface and the introduction of air create an unacceptably slippery condition in turns, thereby contributing to spinouts and increasing the degree of difficulty in proceeding through corners.

And that...as they say ...............is all I can say....on the topic.

T2x.................zeroing in on obsolescence.

T2x,

Now wait a second, about this penis thing........



:p

I just keep diggin' the history being tossed out here. Very informative and BTW impressive...

T2x,
Thanks for the great info. Is Allison the boat that used to compete with Hydrostream? A friend of mine Jim Contzen is running Hydrostream now and with an engineer is working on the next generation. And I thought I was nuts , 100+ is those boats is crazy. I'd much rather run an offshore boat in rough water than worry about hitting a wave and flipping over.

The Challenger, did it go by many names? I remember almost buying one several years ago that had a step bottom and handled very well. Very popular with the Lake Tahoe crowd. Too small for San Francisco Bay except for calm days. It was what got me into wanting an offshore boat though.

Steve Stepp, Is he the maker of Velocity? I had a friend with one and it really flys for the horsepower. Rode pretty rough though.

Steve David,
Didn't you drive the batboat in a race once? Did you stay in your lane? My wife told me she would give me some early this month if I quit talking about the penis thing.;) What is your opinion of steps?

Ok Steve, one last penis joke:)

http://viral.lycos.co.uk/games/condomgame.html

Tom,

T2x and I are Friends for many moons. We've both been racing since the 60's, he starting in the OPC classes and I in inboards. This thread has been interesting because there are good people, like you and T2x with strong opinions/questions, and in so many cases everyone is right, even though disagreement is apparent.

Steps, no steps, Cat or V, maybe the real point of it all is if you're happy with the boat you have, enjoy it, have a ball. I've wondered if we developed a "select a boat" valve where you had 6 selections: Just turn the valve and one moment you have a 46 Skater, the next a Batboat, the next a Ski Nautique, then a 150' Feadship and so forth. Maybe then, we'd all be satisfied :)

Nigel and I ran the Bat Boats when Rich and the Armada folks first brought them to APBA racing. We ran in San Diego and Fort Myers, then set the KILO record in Sarasota. I spent a bit of time with them at Lake X working on set ups and standards and remain highly impressed with the design and utility. Did we keep our lanes? Heck, the good folks I've competed with in everything from 850 hydro to Unlimiteds to Offshore have always complained about my lack of maintaining a lane...........

I believe, and Ocke will back this up, his designs were meant for the duoprop Volvo outdrive which added greater stability to the ride of the Bat design as opposed to the Merc Bravo drive. I only drove and tested them with the Bravo drive and they tended to be a bit squirelly in terms of chine walking and turn instability. However fore and aft running in a head sea or a following sea they were and are phenomenal. The instability side to side was not inherent in the hull design as it appears the current crop that Chris has put together are handling much better with the Volvo set up. When you think about it a 24' foot boat with only a Merc 377 ran 77 + MPH in a 2-3 foot chop and 20 MPH winds thru the KILO. I don't think there are many conventional V hulls or tunnels for that matter that will run that kind of speed at that length and HP. BTW, that same day the best a Super Cat could run was 119 and a Super Vee at 122, to give you an idea of how snotty the KILO conditions were.

As to steps, my pleasure boat is a stepped, notch transom, stand off boxes, delta pad bottomed Black Thunder. The only thing missing are racoon tails off the transom :D When they changed to a stepped bottom from their straight Vee some 5-6 years ago, (same weight, same length), they picked up about 5-7 MPH across their product line. For example their current 46' with twin 525 Mercs runs 76 MPH with 4 people and 100 gallons of fuel.
Thus for a pleasure boat, I like the steps for greater speed, greater range and better fuel consumption, but then again I'm not racing this hull, it's our pleasure boat. Ours is a 43, triple engine and runs in the upper 90's at app. 13,500 lbs.

I believe I've crashed in both straight Vee to Step bottom, to hydro to tunnel. In every instance I can't blame the hulls as much as I can blame myself for running too hard in the wrong conditions. I think it fair to say however, that step bottomed Vee's do require different trim and attention to what you're doing when turning, moreso then a conventional Vee bottom. The back end does indeed want to swap ends on most stepped Vee's.
Then again, a conventional Vee will high side on you pretty quick as well.....................................

Tom, you have a cool boat, enjoy it, have a ball, be safe. T2x and I will ride off into the sunset, he in his cat, me in my stepped Vee, disagreeing at times, and at least from my side, highly respectful of his knowledge, wit and wisdom.
:eek: :eek:

SD, T2x,
Thanks for bringing the info forward, this is the type of info that makes your posts so popular.

Interesting post. Great Info Steve! Wonder if Chris has any input on this?

SteveDavid, T2x, MikeJ, Reckless, and several more of you. There are 7229 members so far on OSO. I imagine most know more than me, but only enough to be curious. I also guess most are afraid to admit it and egg you guys on into telling us stuff. From myself and those lurkers afraid to post thank you for sharing.

This has been my favorite thread so far. It has all the elements of OSO; great info, strong opinions, banter, comedy, facts, fantasy, lack of true resolution (I still thinks steps work, but wonder about the inhearant danger), camaraderie, obvious love of boats, pictures, etc. Maybe on another thread some time we can find out the pros and cons of Cats:) Can't they make them with less up front so they don't blow over? Is that what you call a pickle fork?

Steve:

How in the world a full grown man got to your position and managed to get married even.........and still has no clue about the birds and the bees is truly a mystery.

Hint....check www.sexfordummies.com....again:p

T2x

That's my boy......the consumate diplomat! However, just give me the 150' Feadship and skip the rest. I'm sure the helicopter and tender will do just fine.

T2x

Too Old,

How'd you manage to get the pictures of T2x's baby crib? It is because of this crib design that he is the way he is. On numerous occasions, as a very young lad, this crib rolled, blew over, high sided and stuffed on more than one occasion. As a result he developed a deep and lasting mistrust of steps.

This would also explain while to this very day, he has training wheels on his Harley........................

And now you know the rest of the story...........for now:D :D

T2x: I faintly remember the birds and the bees and the potential uses for Mr. Happy. However with my ever increasing age, if the little fellow can trustfully serve his urination purpose, and once in a great while he can also find happiness with Mrs. David, then by golly, that becomes a day to remember !!:confused:

Steve:

It was not the crib...but the falling out of the crib that created the condition that i laughingly refer to as my mindset.

By the way, for the record, the respect is indeed mutual.....and for anyone interested...Steve and I find ourselves available for conducting racing organization annual awards banquets........ We don't contribute much......but he looks good.

T2x.................surrounded by "step" children

Breakthrough discovery
 

I have been trying to find a relationship to all of the ideas presented on this thread and believe I have come to a great discovery that puts it all into historical perspective.

The discordant points:
steps pro and con
historical perspective
cats vs V
men vs women perspective
attitude and wetted surface
Mr. Happy

Got it!
The debate started with circumcisions back in biblical days! Looked at when you get the surface wetted at the right attitude and the step is plain to see. The reason we still haven't resolved it is because to the womans perspective it really makes no difference and men can't come up with anything but lame reasons even after extensive hand laminations. I bet ribbed condoms are just another marketing department ploy.

T2x
A while ago I built one of these; As a matter of fact this is the Picture the guy gave me to work off
Anyway the Boat I built had a Double Stepped Bottom and a Dynamic pad (I slid two strakes down towards the keel) it went off to Europe; anyway this was years before the Bat Boat got invented!!

Below Pictured an EP class (850cc) Wing Boat without steps (The only picture I have of one) like I said mine had a twin step bottom.
:)

Tom,

As regards the ribbed condom: I'd have to admit a selfish streak in that I wear them inside out :p

Moving from that portion of the body back to boats, (according to my wife, our boat is indeed merely an extension of the organ of which we've been speaking.....) you'll find interesting references to the "condom" boats when some folks speak of the Buzzi boats. There are a number of adjectives added to "condom boat" by those with conventional Vees, stepped Vee and even some cats as the condom boat flew by them on it's (their)way to numerous victories.

Of all the fine designers mentioned on this thread, Fabio Buzzi MAY be the most gifted of them all. For the most part, his designs were significant departures from the norm and they spoke for themselves in competition.

Yet, much like the boatboat, Buzzi boats never developed a significant market following. There is no doubt that his boats, like the Bat Boats are unique, out of the box, quicker than anything comparable, and exceptionally safe when compared to most any other design. And yet still, it's a very small market for such boats.

Which reminds me of the Processionary caterpillar (sic) experiments performed (I think) in France a number of decades ago........ And an ever sadder conclusion that I am in fact one of those caterpillars.................:(

T2x what say you as to the Buzzi boats?

its back, sorry for the inconvenience

Thanks, we are back come on guys post away

More history. I think that is T2x in there proving wings don't work along with steps.:)

Thanks OSO for giving us our thread back. Now if you could just put the thread about the history of naked boat babes back.

:D

When I got into "serious" power boating about 3 whole years ago I viewed the steps as being the new technology and non-stepped bottoms being "old" With that I figured that in 3-5 years It would be easier to sell my stepped boat against a non-stepped hull. It seemed at the time that everybody was going to steps and that it was a proven speed enhancment. Although I was warned about cornering concens, sharp cornering in my mind was not a major deal.

I think the steps look "cooler" than non-steps but on my PQ it had been built with serious hooks in the steps that slow me down. Now I have to get them repaired to get the bottom tuned to what it should be.

It seems to me that for the average perfomance boater steps are a good thing if properly designed. And if the boater is instructed on the procedures for properly operating the boat.

Back on Steps
 

...back to the question on steps....
The concept of steps in the hull running surface was originally proposed by Reverend Ramus in 1872. He proposed both a single step with tandem planing surfaces, and a combination of 3 pontoons with one forward and 2 aft. There were published drawings for small stepped hulls with hard chines as early as 1906, and W. Fauber obtained the first US patent for hulls with multiple steps in 1908. There is quite a history of step design... the Solair set a record of 46 mph with 70 hp with a 12 stepped hull in 1910... and the record was upped each year to 1929, when the Estelle IV set the record at 105 mph with 2000 hp on a 35 ft. hull. It was an interesting era, more outlined in the History of Powerboat Design book.

Jimboat,
very interesting research. If steps were such the rage way back then - why did they ever go to non-stepped V boats? When? Who started the anti-step movement? I can imagine Don Aronow saying "I don't need no stinking steps to kick your ass."

again on the steps
 

Well, stepped hulls dominated race boat design until about 1938 when Adolph Apel patented the 3-point hydroplane configuration. Even though 3point hulls were very successful in small limited class racing, stepped hulls were still running competitively in Unlimited class racing until 1949. In 1950, Slo-Mo-Shun demonstrated 'prop riding' and boosted the world speed record significantlly.

There are a number of reasons why stepped hulls did not continue their popularity for pleasure boats...complexity of design, cost of development, they were banned from Gold Cup racing from 1920 through 1931, and there were many, many huge war-surplus aircraft engines available after WW1 at low prices, so it was easier to buy a big engine for a standard mono-hull, than to develop an efficient stepped hull. Quite a history.

In outboard racing the "conventional" single step hull continued to dominate racing, particularly the alcohol classes, thru the early 1950's. When "Stock" outboard racing started in the late 1940's, stepped hulls and three point hydros were prohibited. As the three point design gained popularity with the alcohol drivers, interest in establishing separate classes for "Stock outboard hydroplanes" grew and were instated in the early 50's.

The last step outboard hydros (as built by Jacoby et al) looked so much like early three pointers they are easily mistaken for three pointers.

To me the biggest advantage of having a stepped boat was that it flew level without any tabs and it didnt seem to porpoise which to me is alot more efficient and a better ride in I think most water conditions. You also can have a higher X-dimension which reduces drag.

OK, who's going to take us from mid 50s to the 90s? T2x, Steve David, and others filled in a lot of it, but I'm not totally clear on the dates. How did it go from the 50's to:

From T2x post earlier.

If Elvis was a boater it would explain not only the gap, but why Reggie dresses that way.;)

Well I can’t stand it any longer! I was just going to mind my own business and not comment on this thread but I can’t. I agree 100 percent with T2X, this whole step thing is more about marketing than it is about actual performance gains. I think it is a fad that will go the way of teak swim platforms, dark colored gel-coat, and splash graphics. Uh oh, I’ve now got myself on to the topic of boat graphics!!! I hate when I do this to myself!!! Whats up with all the stupid graphics these days? Call me old or call me conservative but I think graphics should conform to or enhance a boats lines. I hate this bizarre colored splash $hit all over late model boats. I mean really now, talk about your latest idiotic trend sprayed all over your $200,000 go-faster. Out of style in less than the time it takes to burn two tanks of fuel. You know, I would love a nice brandy-new 35’ Cigarette but they have some of the most obnoxious, dumb looking, trendy paint jobs on the market. I don’t want to piss off any of you guys with these bizarro paint jobs, but whats everyone’s real opinions of the state of today’s paint jobs. I like classic looking stuff, and I like bow rails, and I like windshields, and I like real cleats that don’t disappear. Ok, I guess I am old but so what!!

Major Boat manufacturing companies' marketing departments have proved conclusively that complex and expensive paint jobs improve boat speed in direct proportion to their cost.

This has been amplified by APBA's new "HyperGraphics" classes which shorten course length and reduce weight limits based on your gel coat cost....and the manufacturer's cash input to the LLC.

T2x

About ten years ago, Larson Boats commisioned Harry Schoell to make a step-bottomed 25' Senza. He took a standard, rigged boat with a big block Chebby, and built a DDC bottom right over the top (or bottom?) of it. It picked up over 10 mph. Five years ago, John Connor and John Cosker did the same thing for a VERY famous builder and picked up 14mph! I don't reckon this could be true in every case, but I know this did happen. On another subject, only one designer kept on with steps after WWII. That was Bob Hobbs, who did some boats for Cal Connell. I personally don't like steps, because they are too hard to get off the trailer.

Re: Back on Steps
 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jimboat
[B. There is quite a history of step design... the Solair set a record of 46 mph with 70 hp with a 12 stepped hull in 1910... TE] . [/B][/QUO

I repeat my earlier point from a different thread....

Imagine how fast a 36 step boat would go with 70 hp.

Brownie: If they're harder to get off a trailer......does that mean they're slower in reverse?


T2x

How have the speed increases of boat models that have gone to steps been verified outside of what the manufacturer says in a PB ad. I just find it unreasonable to be expected to believe that there could be a 5-10mph "gps/radar" gain strictly due to a couple of notches without other changes such as weight, strake placement, etc. and/or tests conducted on perfectly flat waters where each boat is required to trim to exactly the same angle, i.e. to where the step would remain in the water so the comparisons are equal.
Now it is even more unreasonable to buy it when comparing hull types in rough seas. As I mentioned earlier in this post, the comparison couldn't possibly been conducted when you consider the vertical/lateral g-forces inputted when running in these waters. When in a "chop" both hulls are aerated negating any feasible advantage. I just can't get away from this thought when thinking about the step theory.
The backing off the trailer or chips from boatel handling is another negative aspect of the step. Let's not forget backing off a beach if you get up a little too high as well. Throw in barrel rolls and spinning out.............I just don't get the attraction............Oh I forgot, they "look" pretty speedy.

BTW with that being said, I do believe steps are a little quicker to plane than V bottoms.....At least by feel and sensation anyway.

TTT

last post on steps
 

T2X's & Reckless288's comments are right on the money! The most significant issue with step design was, and still is, the very difficult engineering challenge of properly locating an efficient step on the hull. The length of planing surface behind the step (ie: the location of the step) and depth of the step have a huge impact on the performance of the setup. To design the step improperly can actually decrease performance. The issue of multiple steps makes the challenge even more tricky.

During the early development of stepped hulls, the reason that performance varied so drastically, was just exactly this issue...the designers didn't always achieve the best engineering solution to the placement and depth of hte step.

This is still the case today...performance of stepped hulls can widely vary. So it's difficult to assume that any boat with steps, will necessarily be any better than one without.

Why do you suppose we haven't seen more boat builders putting air induction holes into the back of the step like Phantom and Outerlimits have? The air is drawn in via ducts on the side or top of the hull and plumbed into the back of the step. The air is used to break the vacuum behind the step which aids in further airation of the hull.