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| Originally Posted by MaxResolution Yes sir-ee, the ocean can be a really unforgiving place.. |
Heard that..I took a rather large slug of saltwater in that plow-in..
Quote:
| Originally Posted by MaxResolution
So, now I know a little more than I did about rolling at sea. And I have to wonder about the trade-offs in efficiency, as we add weight and wet surfaces. Surely this matters less with a larger boat. As to the rear stabalizers I will assume that's most noticable on a faster, smaller boat. 'Passive control' is a sales 'pitch' if I ever heard one. |
'Passive Control' is largely an oxymoron..I would have to agree with that. However, there are certainly features or devices, bilge keels being one and paravanes another, that can add roll damping 'passively'. The trade-off between roll-damping effectiveness versus added drag (bilge keels and fin stabilizers both add drag, of course) would have to be made in every case. And then there is the 'cost' penalty of having an active solution vice a passive design feature or simple device like a paravane.
'Rear stabilizers' are most often active trim tabs (not the 'Bennett' variety..rather large special-purpose ones), or interceptors, and are not limited to 'smaller boats' by any means. They are often employed on very large vessels. But they are not (or very seldom anyway) used on round-bilge mono hull forms, nor are they used on 'slower' boats, as you correctly noted.
Quite a few larger yachts are being delivered with four roll stablizer fins vice two these days. It's pretty clear that in those examples, the weighting given to motion control performance is higher than weight given to cost and drag penalty factors in the trade space.
I should also note that the added drag from stabilizer fins is not as great as is often assumed..especially for vessels that have lower transit speeds..say in the max-15 knot range. If it were such a large drag penalty, there would not be so many 'players*' in the fin stabilizer market.
* I am
not one of those players, BTW.