M-Hull Design Already Researched and Built, Project Mysteriously Abandoned

Post date: Sep 27, 2015 6:52:23 PM

While researching alternate hull designs for the taxi and public transportation boats, interesting information came up about a wake-reduced boat design called the M-hull. The M-hull is designed and patented by a US-based company, and allows the water to pass through 2 channels in the boat's hull, which causes it to spiral around the hull and create aerated water for the boat to ride on. Not only does this reduce hydrostatic friction creating more efficient travel, it also nearly completely eliminates wake. This design seemed perfect for the public transportation and taxi boats which travel throughout Venice (cargo boats might have more issues due to the convenience of using a traditional deep-V hull for cargo space).

Eventually, we found that the M-hull had in fact already been used in the Venice canal system around 2003. The company had built, and delivered, a vaporetto (water bus) with the M-hull design, and it was put into use to ensure connection between the City of Venice and the airport. Additionally, a taxi with the M-hull design was also delivered as a prototype. However, any news about the boats since then has mysteriously stopped, and according to one Italian source, the vaporetto is now abandoned at an ACTV location on the island of Sant'Elena. That website seems to be community-maintained, but the more trustworthy NYT seems to allude to fairly significant political and social issues surrounding any such replacement.

My theory is that although the M-hull may have solved a significant amount of the moto ondoso problem in Venice, push-back from the local boat manufacturers and higher level politicians kept the project from achieving its full potential. Since the design is patented by a U.S. company, this could be a significant problem for local manufacturers who would be unable to build it without prior approval or licensing. Additionally, it breaks the traditional look of the wooden Venetian boat, although that could be resolved by studying different materials (once again, very difficult without paying what must be astronomic licensing fees from the U.S. company).

The M-Hull Vaporetto delivered to Venice. Photo Credits to Bob Grieser

Alexandre Pauwels