Advantages of Hydrofoil Technology

You may have heard of Hydrofoil Technology, but do you know the advantages of hydrofoil technology on a boat? Hysucat has been designing boats with this technology and wants to provide you with some advantages you’ll see.

It’s first important to understand what foiling even is and why it’s being used so extensively on boats. Foiling is simply the use of “hydrofoils” on the hull of boats (usually boats that produce high speeds) to give extra lift and clearance at planning speeds. The foils will often carry the hull of the boat out of the water.

Having your boat’s hull completely leave the water is a scary thought, but it does come with one big advantage. Efficiency. The largest problem a fast boat faces is the amount of effort that is needed to push them through the water. Foiling helps eliminate this problem by raising the boat out of the water making it seem its gliding across the water. 

As you can guess, lifting the boat out of the water also allows for a much smoother ride since waves become less of a factor. While the lift is important, foils can also help the stability and handling of the boat.

Think of foils almost as airplane wings. While airplane wings are cutting through the water, foils have much more work put on them since they have to endure the force of cutting through waves. 

While it may seem like a new modern technology that’s only just emerged, hydrofoil technology can be traced back to 1898. Foiling was created by an Italian inventor by the name of Enrico Forlanini. One of his first prototypes was used on Lake Maggiore. It saw lots of usage during WWII as nations saw the advantages of being able to travel on the sea with more efficiency. 

If foils have been around for so long, why are they just starting to resurface again? It goes back to 2013 when America’s Cup contenders experimented with foil technology and were able to win the competition with ease. They were able to get over 40 knots while the competition wasn’t getting close. This performance brought the advantages of hydrofoil technology back into the spotlight. Today, many premium high-speed boats are being built with this technology in mind.