Patent ID: 7093553

Claim:
A watercraft with at least one onboard propulsion engine, comprising: at least two hulls in spaced-apart parallel relationship to each other, including a port hull and a starboard hull; a deck structure spanning the port and starboard hulls, said deck structure extending laterally beyond the port hull to a port side of the deck structure and laterally beyond the starboard hull to a starboard side of the deck structure; a port skirt extending vertically downward from the port side of the deck structure that combines with the port hull and the deck structure to form a forwardly opening and rearwardly extending port planing channel; a starboard skirt extending vertically downward from the starboard side of the deck structure that combines with the starboard hull and the deck structure to form a forwardly opening and rearwardly extending starboard planing channel; and means for providing aerodynamic lift from air passing over the deck structure, including an upwardly facing surface of the deck structure that slopes downwardly toward an aft end of the deck structure in order to produce aerodynamic lift; wherein at least one of the hulls includes a planing surface and at least one vertical step in the planing surface in order to reduce friction drag.