University of Tasmania, Australia

As featured in Research to Reality, 2011 Edition 8

Incat traditionally build high-speed catamarans which carry a moderate payload. Now it has identified a market for multihulls carrying a much higher payload at medium speed, with great gains in fuel efficiency. However the current hulls and propulsion will not operate as efficiently at medium speed. We are going to tackle the problem in three ways: we’re going to look at the drag of the vessels and the spacing of the hulls; we will also test both water-jet and screw propeller forms of propulsion in the testing tank and on a small lake, and finally, we’ll do computer modelling in a bid to optimise the propulsion of this next generation of Incat vessels.