| 摘要 |
A bow mounted vessel propulsion system is designed to exploit the characteristics of a self-producing vessel lubricating boundary layer of air or air bubbles formed during water surface interaction by the vessel's hull during vessel movement. This boundary layer of air/air bubbles will be produced at the bow of the vessel and, during forward motion, is superimposed upon the surface of the water as the vessel's hull passes over, reducing the frictional drag of the hull as it moves across and through the water. The system has a propulsion means such as a water surface-piercing propeller or water jet nozzles, which will propel the vessel forward and, at the same time, by action of propeller rotation (drawing air into and intermixing) in the water or water jet movement, will create the air bubbles which produce the hull-lubricating phenomenon. The hull is a substantially flat-bottomed planning hull with two linear rails on each lengthwise outer edge of the bottom surface of the hull. The rails extend downward into the water at a sufficient depth to be able to keep the boundary layer of air bubbles from escaping out from the sides of the hull bottom when the vessel is in forward motion.
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