FAST SEA-SLEDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18380, 21 April 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

FAST SEA-SLEDS.

EIGHTY MILES AN HOUR.

"- Mr.: C. Grahame-White has carried / out successful experiments i with "ai new type of sea-sled, which has surface propellers, a bottom \ shaped just; the opposite to the .ordinary > boat, ; and : which '}}■ gains , in' stability as the speed increases,. says a London paper. - , ' , VK: :: .-:;'.^ The V-shaped air passage running .underneath the sea-sled enables it to travel like a J seaplane, while the rush 0f..: air prevents the stern from sinking low in the water. With a square bow, andi shaped almost like a barge, ; the i craft ■ La designed for ./ great speed. , I During his experiments, Mr.' GrahamsWhite ; reached 42 miles / per ■■■ hour. :. -•, j :. "These :' sea-sleds," he added, /:/ "would i prove very useful for war-time; raids. j They would not sink if holed by a : shot or torpedoed, for they draw no water /at all: I And they would prove elusive target. Sea-sleds of this type, carrying torpedoes, could be designed to ,; travel J at) 80 miles' an hour. ~. The /, shallow draft ;; makes it valuable for commercial purposes. Th© business man with estates several miles up rivers, like the Congo and ! the "Amazon, where sandbanks shift almost /daily,* could get to his property in-a very short time. " They can be built to carry 100 passengers, and could J." be used on; coastal services. Previously 99 marine engineers out: of : 100 would have said /.that to /use surface ■■. propellers would reduce the speed of , the ' craft; but •I " can claim to \. have proved otherwise. This sea-sled can reach a greater speed than craft with submerged propellers .