| You'll find the term used primarily used with powerboats or some
sailboats of wooden construction with plywood. It is the angle
from the side of the hull to the bottom of the boat.
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| |
|____________| - chine
A large outside angle (close to 270 degrees) is said to have
a "hard" chine while lesser angles are "soft" chines. Planing
powerboats have flat or V bottoms and prominent chines. Displacment
power boats have round bottoms and tend to "roll" in the waves.
Sailboats don't because of ballast and keels.
Up until a few years ago, construction materials such as steel
and plywood dictated the only reason a sailboat would have a
hard chine. I remember recently seeing ads for some kind of
sailboat that was designed with a harder chine and flatter bottom
so it would also plane. I can't remember the name of the boat,
but I suspect it planed like a sailboat and sailed like a powerboat.
Maybe someone else out there remembers.
Encore
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| RE: .1
Lancer makes a powersailer. I think there is one from Europe
RE: .0
As Adam said is basically the shape of the side to bottom of a hull.
Hard chines refer to boats with a dramatic angle, soft chines are
less pronounced. There are also rounded chines, which are the
common shape in plank wood and fiberglass boats. Steel boats
used to be welded up from plate steel and usually had pronounced
edges where the weld created the angle. Some sheet plywood boats
also have this sharp edge.
It is becoming more common to find steel and aluminum builders who
will roll steel/aluminum for the chine before welding. This gives
a smoother appearance to the hull, and may improve performance some
when heeled.
Walt
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