I was hoping to find one of the first "true" power catamarans. And when I first saw the photo of the Model 28 Hickman Sea Sled, I thought it to be a catamaran. However after looking into it further I consider this not to be a catamaran at all, but maybe the God Father to what is now known as "Tunnel Hulls". Looking at the construction method of the inverted V Hull that Hickman used, it clearly shows he derived his idea from a catamaran by having two sponson "keels" run the full way of the craft, and that the tunnel flattens off after midship. His idea to force air down the tunnel to give the boat lift which then reduced wetted surface area and increased speed was pretty forward thinking in 1919. On top of this his work with Surface Drive Props on the inverted V hull, was setting the stage for tunnel boat racing today. I consider a catamaran to be: two hulls, separated by a bridge deck structure of some sort, that is truly clear of the water when at rest. Do I have any takers on that one? Regards, Noah

Well my Ceecat was a catamaran but the aft wing was 1" clearance at rest. Just enough to keep the lexan wing out of the water at rest. but with 2 aboard and any way the wing was immersed for 1/2 its length so <BG> info@eastcapemarine.com wrote: >I was hoping to find one of the first "true" power catamarans. And when I >first saw the photo of the Model 28 Hickman Sea Sled, I thought it to be a >catamaran. However after looking into it further I consider this not to be a >catamaran at all, but maybe the God Father to what is now known as "Tunnel >Hulls". Looking at the construction method of the inverted V Hull that Hickman >used, it clearly shows he derived his idea from a catamaran by having two >sponson "keels" run the full way of the craft, and that the tunnel flattens >off after midship. His idea to force air down the tunnel to give the boat lift >which then reduced wetted surface area and increased speed was pretty forward >thinking in 1919. On top of this his work with Surface Drive Props on the >inverted V hull, was setting the stage for tunnel boat racing today. I >consider a catamaran to be: two hulls, separated by a bridge deck structure of >some sort, that is truly clear of the water when at rest. > >Do I have any takers on that one? > >Regards, >Noah >_______________________________________________ >Power-Catamaran Mailing List > > > > -- Live Long and Prosper Capt. Len Susman, retired trikini23@trikini.com After Dec. 13,2007 Email : trikini2007@comcast.net What's New http://www.trikini.com/whatn.htm