Rowing faster by surface treatment

The largest part of hydrodynamic drag during rowing, sailing or canoeing is the turbulent skin friction (80-90%). Higher velocities can be achieved by reducing the friction drag as a result of surface treatment. This research focuses on the development, characterization, and testing of drag-reducing surfaces, like nano- and micro-structured...

On wings and keels

A discussion is given of the physical mechanisms governing the hydrodynamics of sailing yacht keels and the parameters that, through these mechanisms, determine keel performance. It is concluded that due to the presence of the free water surface optimum keel shapes differ from optimum shapes for aircraft wings, a fact that does not seem to have...