Pontoon structure for a boat includes an elongated pontoon with a bottom forming a water entrapment channel between a front end portion and a rear end portion of the pontoon, the bottom configuration causing the pontoon and the supported boat body to quickly rise above the water surface and plane.

A hull for low drag boats has, from bow to stern, a deep V-shaped keel (10) whose dead-rise angle decreases up to a flattened bottom (30) in the stern, and sides (20) comprising side chines (200) protruding downward from the flattened bottom that is not inclined upwards.

A watersports boat includes a hull having an underside extending from a forward bow to an aft transom along a longitudinal centerline. The underside defines a running surface that contacts water when the hull moves therein. The underside includes one or more features that enhance the boat's performance.

A pontoon boat includes port and starboard pontoons and cross members connecting the pontoons. A shock absorber may be installed at each point of connection of the pontoons to the cross members. A cross member may be embodied as a double-webbed beam having first and second parallel flanges and first and second webs disposed between and connected to the flanges. Each pontoon may include a two-stage lifting strake having a first surface and a second surface inclined from the first surface.

Provided is watercraft hull system, including a hull having a fore end, an aft end, and a longitudinal axis extending between the fore end and the aft end; a substantially V-shaped portion extending from the fore end toward the aft end along a portion of the longitudinal axis; and a substantially M-shaped portion extending from the V-shaped portion toward the aft end, wherein the V-shaped portion gradually transitions to the M-shaped portion.

A water surface transport means, comprising a bottom (1), boards (2), a deck (3), surge diversion grooves (4) and wave suppression diversion baffles (5), the surge diversion groove (4) being provided in a space between a bottom surface vertically recessed into the hull bottom (1) and the deck (3) and extending from the bow to the stern, with an arc-shaped transverse section and a top line of longitudinal section being lower in the front and higher in the rear; a top transverse section of the wave suppression diversion baffle (5) being arc-shaped and a top line of longitudinal section being lower in the front and higher in the rear. The water surface transport means can be configured as mono-hull, catamaran and trimaran.

An amphibian operable in land and marine modes includes a hull, having a discontinuity, and a retractable wheel or track drive assembly at least partially located in the discontinuity. A wheel or track drive of the at least one retractable wheel or track drive assembly is retracted above a lowest point of the hull when operating in marine mode, and the wheel or track drive is protracted below the lowest point when operating in land mode. The hull is a planing V hull having a forward bow section defining a frontal bow surface/area across a beam of the hull. The discontinuity is provided in the forward bow section, and the wheel or track drive of the retractable wheel or track drive assembly is located ahead of and in front of at least a portion of the frontal bow area when protracted.

A modified V-hull boat has a keel having a horizontal cross-sectional profile of an inverted foil. The leading edge of the keel is a sharp point and the front region of the keel tapers outward along the length of the keel until it reaches its widest point. The widest point is aligned with the center of gravity of the hull. The trailing edge is a rounded blunt edge. The aft region of the keel is substantially shorter in length than the front region of the keel.

A watercraft has left and right sponsons movable between raised and lowered positions. For each sponson, an actuatable anchor connects the sponson to a hull of the watercraft; and a guiding slot guides movement of the sponson. The actuatable anchor is received in the guiding slot. The sponson is in the raised position when the actuatable anchor is at a first location of the guiding slot, and in the lowered position when the actuatable anchor is at a second location of the guiding slot. The guiding slot has recessed portions at the first and second locations that are shaped and sized to prevent the actuatable anchor from moving relative to the guiding slot when a handle of the actuatable anchor is received therein and is in the locked position. The actuatable anchor is movable from the first and second locations when the handle is in the unlocked position.

Method and apparatus of various embodiments of a hydrodynamic design of planing boat or vehicle employing two substantially dihedral planing surfaces featuring cambered hydrodynamic profiles with their base lines, positioned successively along length of the boat and comprising a forward planing surface of swept back plan form and an aft planing surface, which, in order to match conformally the disturbance of water surface generated by the forward planing surface, specifically configured and arranged spatially and angularly relatively the forward planing surface, so that within each vertical longitudinal plane a section of aft planing surface is displaced vertically and its base line is turned relatively the base line of corresponding section of the forward planing surface within the same vertical longitudinal plane by the height and angle of the wave trough generated by the forward planing surface at the location of said section of aft planing surface.