THE DESIGN OF AN 8-OARED ROWING SHELL

Rules governing the design of rowing shells do not restrict basic hull parameters. In designing a new eight-oared rowing shell for internati onal ard Olympic competition, the authors sought a high speed, minimum drag hull form, subject only to the constraints on minimum displaceme nt and roll stability. An investigation of optimum hull parameters usi ng analytically determined resistance curves was made. Optimum hull pa rameters for both deep and shallow water racing are presented. Using t he hull parameters determined for minimum resistance at racing speeds in shallow water, several new hull forms were created and analyzed in both deep and shallow water. Two promising final design candidates wer e proposed for model-scale testing. Results of both steady and unstead y towing tests are presented.