Sponson Upgrade

[Propjockey]

I have a question about sponsons for a 'rigger I'm putting the finishing touches on.....

I was wondering if a 1/8" strake on the bottom of the sponsons (down the center) would break up surface tension for faster runs.

What about two strakes, one at each edge of a sponson to create a small tunnel?

Any ideas, comments, suggestions?

[RiverRunner]

Hopefully you'll be running on-plane most of the time at which point only the aft edges of the sponsons should be in contact with the water.

In turns, I would think the strakes would add a bunch of drag and/or tend to "trip" the hull.

You'd probably be much better off sticking with the addition of ride pads as a sponson modification.

My 2 cents.

[Propjockey]

Thanks for the input--

Uummmmm..........this being my first 'rigger, what's a ride pad?

[RiverRunner]

Ride pads are thin surfaces added to the bottom of sponsons to allow water to better break away from the sponson. Exactly the effect that you were wondering if you could achieve with strakes.

There's some really good info here:
http://www.rumrunnerracing.com/feforums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3298