HYSUWAC Foil Assisted Vessels

Art Anderson Associates has designed several vessels using hydrofoil technology. We offer HYSUWAC hydrofoil-assisted catamaran designs for high-speed craft and fast ferry applications.

The HYSUWAC hydrofoil-assisted catamaran design represents one of the most recent advances for improving the performance of high-speed catamarans. HYSUWAC stands for "Hydrofoil Supported Water Craft and describes a patented system consisting of a catamaran hull form combined with hydrofoils designed to support part of the vessels weight at design speed. The hydrofoils are used to reduce the hydrodynamic resistance by lifting the hull partially out of the water. Unlike conventional hydrofoil craft, where the hull is lifted completely out of the water, the hull is designed to remain in water contact so that HYSUWAC hydrofoil-assisted catamarans use conventional propulsion systems such as waterjets with little or no modification to the propulsion system.
The HYSUWAC relies on a fixed hydrofoil system that carries 70-80% of the weight of the vessel. The main benefits of the HYSUWAC system are:

Reduced resistance (by up to 40%)
Reduced Fuel consumption (by up to 30%)
Increased range (up to 30%)
Reduced Wake Wash (15-25%)
Improved seakeeping

The HYSUWAC hydrofoil system has been developed with the specific aim of improving the transport efficiency of semi-displacement type and semi-planing type catamarans that are commonly used as high-speed ferries. The HYSUWAC hydrofoil system was developed through extensive model testing and prototype testing and is based on over 20 years of research and development at the University of Stellenbosch on hydrofoil-assisted catamarans. Two design options exist for HYSUWAC hydrofoils: (1) Retrofitting the HYSUWAC hydrofoil system to existing catamaran hulls or (2), for optimum efficiency a new HYSUWAC vessel can be designed. A new vessel design will include design of a hullform that is specifically adapted to the HYSUWAC hydrofoil system and allows improved efficiency over retrofits. Both HYSUWAC retrofits and new designs show vastly improved efficiency performance over conventional catamarans. For example, a typical Diesel powered passenger catamaran requires 15-25 kW/passenger for operating speeds of 34-40 knots. The HYSUWAC achieves 10-12kW/passenger for speeds above 40 knots. Back to top