Check out this amazing video of a hydrofoil record speed attempt. It really is amazing and reminds me of a scene right out of the 1995 movie Water World. And the coolest part (at least to me) are the underlying physics that make it all happen.

Basically it’s really simple- A hydrofoil is a submerged wing that’s attached to the boat above it. As the boat accelerates, the wing under the water produces lift- Just like a wing on an airplane. Remember it’s still fluid dynamics, whether it’s air or water.

The great part about hydrofoils is that as the boat accelerates, overall drag is reduced- The opposite of aircraft. That is because as the foils produce lift they raise the boat out of the water and walla, the drag of all that water on the boat’s hull is gone!

Check this next video out. This guy is a retired Boeing engineer who converted his Bayliner with hydrofoils. The other part I thought was really cool is that he uses his laptop as an autopilot to control bank angle!

And last, check out how much fun the guy in this next video is having. It’s a great video to watch and is of a hydro wakeboarder being pulled behind a boat. I’d embed the video here, but it’s author has requested that it not have that capability, so I’ll post the link instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoGqdZNdb_o.

Well, that’s about it for hydrofoils today. Check back though because I find hydrofoils so fascinating, I just may do another post about them in the near future!
~Capt’n Chris

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