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Displacement hull and hull speed
What is hull speed and why can't displacement boats go faster? · Standard part · basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio
Also called: hull speed, displacement hull, hull speed formula, 1.34 sqrt lwl, speed length ratio, waterline length speed, displacement speed, rc sailboat hull speed, maximum hull speed
Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.
- sizes
- 5 in table
Notes
- A displacement hull is supported by buoyancy. Its bow wave lengthens with speed, and when the wave length equals the waterline length the boat is trapped climbing its own wave, so speed is limited by length (Good Old Boat).
- Hull speed in knots is 1.34 x sqrt(waterline in feet); some designers use 1.4. Doubling length does not double speed.
- Used on: Most large monohull sailboats (Good Old Boat).
- The file is a reference example built by Xem Studio from the numbers above (Length = IOM hull length 1000 mm (onemetre.net); beam and deadrise illustrative.). Sizes the sources do not fix are illustrative; scale the example to your own vehicle.
Displacement hull and hull speed size chart
| parameter | value or range | source |
|---|---|---|
| Hull speed | S (kn) = 1.34 x sqrt(LWL ft) | Good Old Boat |
| Alternative constant | 1.4 | Good Old Boat |
| 20 ft LWL | ~6.0 kn | Good Old Boat |
| 40 ft LWL | ~8.5 kn | Good Old Boat |
| IOM RC yacht hull length | 1000 mm | onemetre.net |
Where the files are
Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.
| Good Old Boat | Displacement hull speed 101 | web | Publisher's page; dimensions are facts |
| onemetre.net | The IOM class | web | Publisher's page; dimensions are facts |
Free files
★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json
| displacement-hull-hull | displacement hull, 1000 × 181 mm, deadrise 0° (sections illustrative, scale to your boat) | STEP · STL |
https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=displacement-hull

Fits with
Questions
Hull speed of a 1 m RC yacht?
LWL ~3.28 ft gives 1.34 x 1.81 = ~2.4 kn (formula from Good Old Boat).





