How fast do boats travel (without motors or magic) ?

[MavrickWeirdo]

I realize it depends on what type of boat, what it is carrying, and the current. Still there must be some basic rule of thumb numbers. If anyone can come up with some I would appreciate it.

 

[Lordnightshade]

The Maximum hull speed of a sailing vessel is determined by it's length at the water line.

The formula for this is:

Maximum Speed of a Single-Hull Displacement Boat

Hull Speed = 1.34 * (LWL)^1/2

LWL: length of the hull at the waterline.

So using that formula we can determine that a boat that is 30' at the waterline has a maximum hull speed of 7.34 knots.

A boat that is 100' long will have a hull speed of 13.4 knots

The longer the boat, the faster it's able to go.

For more information about this go here:

http://www.anyboat.com/hull.htm

 

[CCamfield]

I realize it depends on what type of boat, what it is carrying, and the current. Still there must be some basic rule of thumb numbers. If anyone can come up with some I would appreciate it.

The non-scientific numbers are in the DMG under ships.

 

[the Jester]

The Maximum hull speed of a sailing vessel is determined by it's length at the water line.

The formula for this is:

Maximum Speed of a Single-Hull Displacement Boat

Hull Speed = 1.34 * (LWL)^1/2

LWL: length of the hull at the waterline.

So using that formula we can determine that a boat that is 30' at the waterline has a maximum hull speed of 7.34 knots.

A boat that is 100' long will have a hull speed of 13.4 knots

The longer the boat, the faster it's able to go.

For more information about this go here:

http://www.anyboat.com/hull.htm

Speaking of the old adage that the only dumb question is the one you don't ask...

Er, being nautically ignorant, exactly how fast is a knot? I mean, in mph or whatever?

(looks sheepish...)

 

[alsih2o]

Er, being nautically ignorant, exactly how fast is a knot? I mean, in mph or whatever?

it looks better here- http://boguewx.navy.mil/Conversions/knotstomph.htm


Read down the knots on left then across. At intersection is the miles per hour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNOTS ðð 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
òòò òò òò òò òò òò òò òò òò òò òò òò
0 ðð 0 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10
10 ðð 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22
20 ðð 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 32 33
30 ðð 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 43 44 45
40 ðð 46 47 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
50 ðð 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 66 67 68
60 ðð 69 70 71 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
70 ðð 81 82 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 91
80 ðð 92 93 94 96 97 98 99 100 101 102
90 ðð 104 105 106 107 108 109 111 112 113 114
100 ðð 115 116 117 119 120 121 122 123 124 126
110 ðð 127 128 129 130 131 132 134 135 136 137
120 ðð 138 139 140 142 143 144 145 146 147 149
130 ðð 150 151 152 153 154 155 157 158 159 160
140 ðð 161 162 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 172
150 ðð 173 174 175 176 177 178 180 181 182 183
160 ðð 184 185 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 195
170 ðð 196 197 198 199 200 202 203 204 205 206
180 ðð 207 208 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 218
190 ðð 219 220 221 222 223 225 226 227 228 229
200 ðð 230 231 233 234 235 236 237 238 240 241

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Crothian]

Okay, on the above table we have knots on the left. Then what do the numbers above mean? Why is the knots not a constant speed?

 

[alsih2o]

10+1, or 10+2....like that, it makes mucj more sense on the site

 

[the Jester]

Alsih2o! Good to see you!

You do not smell like teen spirit- I was there, I know!

 

[Crothian]

10+1, or 10+2....like that, it makes mucj more sense on the site

Okay, I'm still not getting it. Acording to the chart 0 knots can be anywhere from zero to 10 mph. So, to me it seems that knots is not a constant like mph is. I might just be being dense, or it might be the that Clay has too much Teen Spirit on today, I'm not sure.

 

[Fast Learner]

The rows of the table are like the 10s digit in knots, the columns are the 1s digit. As such the 2nd row (10) and 3rd column (2) is 12 knots, about 14mph.

For a math guy, I avoid the table. Instead:

1 knot = 1.152 mph

1 mph = .868 knots