Patent ID: 7913635

Claim:
A water craft including a hull having a main longitudinal axis defining a direction of travel of the craft, a plurality of discs mounted at respective opposed sides of the main longitudinal axis to and below the hull and in combination having sufficient buoyancy to support the hull above water, each disc comprising an essentially circular convex skimming surface adapted to skim upon the water as the craft moves at low speed, wherein the discs are mounted to the hull such that the skimming surface of each disc faces downwardly with respect to the longitudinal central axis of the hull, and adapted for movement between a low speed orientation in which the discs present a portion of the circular convex skimming surface to the water surface and a high speed orientation in which the discs present a portion of the edge of the disc to the water, and wherein the hull has a bottom shell including enlarged strakes relative to which the discs are mounted, wherein the strakes are aligned substantially parallel to the direction of travel, wherein each strake has a pair of arcuate and concave lateral surfaces which converge to a strake tip as the strake extends away from the bottom of the craft, and wherein the lateral sides of adjacent strakes define concave flow tunnels under the craft which in turn create lift when the craft is moving.