I'm very suspicious of the whole schoell v20 - alim connection. *In my opinion Harry Schoell is an excellent boat historian/engineer that can identify unique designs. *He makes small mods to these designs and patents them. * This is not unusual for patents, but what I don't like is that Schoell claims to be some great inventor, when he really hasn't invented anything . . . in my mind he simply a fraudulent self promoter. *
Here's the skinny . . . as I see it.
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FACTS:
Schoell's Dad owned Alim (the company that first built the v20) *
Schoell was 18 years old when the patent for the strakes was filed in 1961.
Ray Hunt had these strakes on his 1958 "moppie" prototype in Newport, RI.
http://www.bertram31.com/ray_hunt.htm
Hunt loved to build prototypes. By 1958, a wooden deep-vee, complete with *
lifting strakes and 24 degrees of deadrise, was turning heads in Newport, RI.
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Question: *Where did Harry Schoell get the idea for strakes? * *
Drawings (for Moppie) appeared in a boating magazine early in 1958 as part of a story on the design.
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In his article:
http://www.schoellmarine.com/bio_files/page0001.htm
harry takes credit for the v20 design and boast about building a plug in a week (when he's 18 years old). *
This is total "BS" there is no friggin way in hell that any one person can build a 20ft plug in a week. *Teams of people can't even accomplish this. *
The only way it's possible to do this in a week . . . *would be to take a existing hull . . . and screw strakes to the bottom. *Then spend a week shaping, fairing and polishing them, so that they could pull a mold from the plug. *
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Don't even get me started on the Delta Conic Hull or the surface piercing prop. *Both these "inventions" were done way before Schoell.
Surface Piercing Prop - was a hickman design from the 20's
This shaft from the hickman seasled turned a 24inch surface piercing prop. *
Delta Conic Hull - *was common unpatented design.
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Hey look at the steps on the bottom of the Hickman seasled ( that was in the 20's)
This was Richard Coles airslot hull. *Check out the small step in the vee (this was in 1971) *
There were many other variations of this design. *I can dig up others that are much more pronounced that these 2 subtle ones. *