Seakeeping of Motor Yachts According to the literature2 the vertical ac-

celerations are a prime measure for sea-

Ir. R.P.Dallinga, MARIN 1 sickness. An on board investigation3 and
recent work 4 suggests that also other and
combined modes of motion play a role.
1. Introduction
Apart from the behaviour in a seaway,
noise and hull girder vibrations due to
By limiting her availability and on-board
slamming below the keel and in the bow
activities and through motion induced fa-
flare in transit conditions and aft-body
tigue and seasickness, poor seakeeping af-
slamming in anchored conditions are clear
fects the sheer enjoyment of a yacht. Good
comfort issues.
handling in more extreme conditions con-
tributes greatly to safety.
The availability of a yacht in a tight oper-
The present paper summarizes lessons
ating schedule is governed by the sustained
learned in the course of a long history of
speed and possibilities to board the vessel.
seakeeping tests. It discusses the basics of
Apart from the speed loss due to added re-
motor yacht seakeeping, the techniques and
sistance from wind and waves, the speed is
merits of motion control and related design
governed by the ability to use the available
and research issues.
power and to maintain the desired course.
2. Ship Behaviour Human exposure to extreme rolling and
vertical accelerations, damage and ingress
Introduction of water after extreme structural loading
The combined effect of vertical and trans- and lack of control over the vessel in ad-
verse accelerations constitute a key factor verse wave conditions are obvious safety
in the mobility of passengers and crew and issues.
many on-board activities. They are a meas-
ure for the ability to walk or climb a stair-
way, the feasibility of boarding the ship or
handling heavy gear or launching a dinghy. 2

Seakeeping Hydrodynamics
Mobility Local (transverse) accelerations, roll
Seasickness Local (vertical) accelerations
Comfort
Motion induced fatigue Local (vertical) accelerations
Hull girder vibrations, noise Rel. wave elevation, related keel, bow flare, aft-body slamming
Sustained speed Added resistance, rel. wave elev. related green seas, keel slamming
Availability Course keeping Steering, yawing, rolling
Boarding Local accelerations, roll
Structural loads Green seas, impacts, seafastening loads
Safety Extreme behaviour Loss of steerage, extreme roll angles, extreme vertical accelerations
Stability Broaching, capsizing, flooding

1 3
Maritime Research Institute Netherlands, Wageningen, The v Wieringen, et al, Practical experience of reducing motions and
Netherlands, r.p.dallinga@marin.nl improving comfort on board large motor yachts, Project 1999.
2 4
Nordforsk, Assessment of ship performance in a seaway, ISBN TNO Rept. TM-01-C047 MSI Data, TNO Toegepaste Mens-
87-982637-1-4, 1987 kunde, Nov. 2001
Accelerations
Local vertical accelerations are related to
the heave, pitch and roll motions and their
mutual phasing. In practice this leads to an
area with relatively low accelerations just
aft of amidships and relatively high levels
in the forward half of the ship. The rela-
tively low damping of narrow hull sections
magnifies this trend for ships with a rela-
tively fine forebody. Figure 1 illustrates the
trend for a 50 m yacht in head seas 5 ; the
difference between the area just aft of
amidships and the area around three-quarter
ship length is nearly a factor of two in ac-
celeration level. Figure 2, which indicates
the transfer function of the vertical accel-
eration at three-quarter ship length, shows
that the highest response is obtained in head
and bow-quartering seas. These and further
results were generated with the 3D panel
code PRECAL developed in the course of
the MARIN Co-operative Research Ships.
Transverse accelerations are related to
sway, roll and yaw motions. Without ade-
quate roll stabilisation the contribution of
roll is quite important. In case of active sta-
bilisation the sway in beam seas dominates
the results; because of this the effect of lon-
gitudinal position is limited and height
plays a limited role. Figures 3 and 4 indi-
cate the transfer function of the transverse
acceleration at three-quarter ship length for
zero and non-zero speed. At zero speed the
roll resonance dominates the result, at 16
knots the area with the highest response
shifts from beam to stern quartering seas.
The peak around beam seas originates in
sway motions.
5
Kapsenberg en Dallinga, Seakeeping of Motor Yachts, Project
95, Amsterdam, 1995
Roll
The roll response can be understood to
some extent by comparing it with that of a
lightly dampened single mass spring sys-
tem.
The roll response per unit excitation shows
three typical areas. At low encounter fre-
quencies the roll is governed by the excita-
tion and the ship stability (the restoring
term); at high encounter frequencies the ex-
citation and the inertia term dominate the
result. In the intermediate range with reso-
nant conditions the relatively low roll
damping yields a relatively high response.
Figure 5 indicates the frequency of wave
encounter as a function of wave frequency
and heading for 15 knots forward speed; it
shows that at forward speed the area with
resonant conditions moves to stern-
quartering waves.
In many seakeeping theories the excitation
of the hull is more or less independent of
forward speed. Its character is shown in
Figure 6; noteworthy is (compared to beam
seas) the relatively high excitation in quar-
tering wave directions. Observing the area
with resonant conditions it is noted that the
excitation at zero speed is considerably
lower than in the case of forward speed.
Figures 7 and 8 indicate the typical charac-
ter of the roll response. Note the similarity
of the result with that of the transverse ac-
celerations in Figures 3 and 4.
The roll damping that governs the height of
the roll resonance peak is the sum of a
number of components. At zero speed the
contribution of bilge keels is quite impor-
tant, the eddy damping from the bilges, the
contribution of skegs and rudders is mostly
relatively small. Figure 9 6 indicates the
relative magnitude. Because of the nature of
the (drag) forces the roll damping is rather
non-linear in character (it increases with
increasing roll amplitude). In practice this
yields a high efficiency in higher waves.
At non-zero speed the lift damping of the
hull becomes an important factor. Because
it is linear in character the roll response is
nearly proportional with wave height.
Yaw and yaw induced roll
Because of the hydrodynamic coupling
between roll and yaw, and also because of
the reaction of the rudders on the yaw mo-
tions, yaw is of interest in relation to roll.
Following the crude concept of a single-
mass spring system, the response is ex-
pected to be very high in areas where some
excitation can be combined with a very low
frequency of wave encounter. Figure 10
indicates the excitation and the critical en-
counter frequency range, Figure 11 the yaw
response. The blank areas in the graph ind i-
cate areas where the present frequency do-
main calculations yield an extremely high
yaw response.
When the rudders react on the yaw motions
they generate a transverse force that magni-
fies rolling. This phenomenon increases the
roll response in the quasi-static range with
low encounter frequencies. The trend to in-
crease rudder area and rudder effectivity
(with high-lift rudders) magnifies this trend.
To obtain an impression of the effect of
rudder area time domain simulations were
performed with the FREDYN code. Apart
from solving the equations of motions in
the time domain the code – maybe more
important - accounts for low-frequency
“manoeuvring” reaction forces. Figure 12
6 Before solid green seas reach the top of the
Passenger Comfort on board Motor Yachts, Dallinga, R.P. and
van Wieringen, H.M., Project 97, Amsterdam 1997
illustrates that an increasing rudder area
magnifies rolling in stern-quartering seas.
Observations during model tests indicate
that numerical models (also the foregoing
results) tend to underestimate the roll re-
sponse in the area of low encounter fre-
quencies. This suggests that theory under-
lying the PRECAL code tends to underes-
timate the yaw and rudder induced roll ex-
citation and overestimate the effective sta-
bility. Underestimation of the excitation
may be related to the fact that even a small
temporary drift angle has a large influence
on the roll excitation and the fact that the
yaw induced rudder reaction forces which
are often neglected.
Reasons for a reduced effective transverse
stability may be related to the steady wave
system in the higher speed range (see Fig-
ure 14). Observations during tests suggest
that in cases where the bow immerses tem-
porarily the steady wave system becomes
even more pronounced; this would imply
that the foregoing crude estimate of the sta-
bility reduction is not necessarily conserva-
tive.
Relative Wave Elevation
The elevation of the water surface with re-
spect to the incoming wave is governed by
the heave and pitch response and by dif-
fraction effects. In head seas the elevation
around the bow is a measure for the risk of
shipping green water; the related impact
loads can lead to large structural damage.
Figure 14 indicates the character of the
transfer function; the results resemble the
pitch and are highest in head and bow-
quartering wave directions. Around the
peak, the wave elevation is around 3.5
times that of the incident wave.
Water on Deck
bulwark a thin film with spray develops.
Because the thin sheets observed on model
scale do not resemble the real-life spray it is
not fully clear to what extent the model test
result s are a measure for spray nuisance.
Impacts
Keel or bow-flare immersion can give rise
to hull girder vibrations. Our current per-
ception of this problem7 is that events like
these occur if the duration of the (re-)entry-
load is shorter than roughly one-quarter of
the natural period of the lowest (typically
two-node) mode shape of the hull. The
structural response seems proportional to
the impulse contained below the force-time
history.
The total impact load originates in a highly
local pressure front that travels with a high
velocity over the shell during (re-)entry.
The duration of the pressure at one location
is considerably shorter than the duration of
the total excitation. The evolution and ma g-
nitude of the local pressure in time and
space depend on the relative vertical veloc-
ity and on the angle between the water sur-
face and the bow sections (the dead-rise in
head seas).
Figure 16 shows an example of a bow-flare
impact recorded on a ferry in bow-
quartering seas. The local pressures were
recorded with four pressure gauges and one
force-panel in the centre (see Figure 15).
The time lapse between the four pressure
gauges indicates the velocity of the pressure
front; this velocity and the duration of the
pressure peak at one point give an idea of
the spatial extent of the pressure front. In
the present case the velocity was around 21
m/s; the width of the front was around 2 m.
Comparing this width with the size of the
2x2 m panel it is not surprising that the out-
7 were adopted frequently on both new de-
Kapsenberg, G.K., Veer, A.P.van ‘t, Hackett, J.P. and Levadou,
M.M.D., Whipping Loads due to aft body slamming, 24 th Sym-
posium on Naval Hydrodynamics, Fukyoka, JAPAN, 2002
put of the panel is comparable to output of
the pressure gauges.
In the present sample the natural period of
the panel on the force transducer (which
acts as a mechanical spring) is much shorter
than the duration of the exposure to the
pressure. Because of this the output of the
force transducer is a quasi-static spatial av-
erage of the pressure. In case of higher front
velocities and larger panels (longer natural
periods) dynamic effects must be expected.
The relative wave elevation at the stern is a
point of concern with regard to propeller
ventilation (and engine rpm control prob-
lems) in stern-quartering seas and aft-body
slamming at zero speed. At zero speed the
penetration of wave troughs below the stern
can, particularly in short following waves,
lead to serious noise problems. There are
indications that a trim-wedge and, in more
extreme cases, side-skegs of limited height
can reduce aft-body slamming largely.
Experience from cruise ships learns that
very shallow stern sections yield very high
pressure front velocities; when this is the
case the associated short duration of the to-
tal force, even if it is not very large, can
give rise to a significant whipping response.
3. Motion Control
Anchored Conditions
The focus of the research on the control
over the behaviour of a ship at anchor has
until the present day been on the reduction
of the roll motions by increasing the roll
damping. Installing bilge keels of adequate
size was the first measure that was imple-
mented regularly. A second measure was
the installation of a lightly dampened pas-
sive U-type stabilisation tank.
In recent years active low aspect ratio fins
signs as well as re-fits on existing ships.
Passive stabilisation tanks are well estab-
lished as a means to reduce rolling. An im-
portant advantage of a U-tank is the low
flow noise and the possibility to shut the
tank down quickly when going to transit
conditions. The main design parameters
are 8 the volume, the duct height and the in-
ternal damping. Because of the low roll an-
gles in design conditions (typically around
0.5 deg rms) the internal damping needs to
be rather low to obtain an adequate tank
response. Typical roll reduction levels 5 are
around 70% (rms).
Although counter intuitive the use of stabi-
lizers at zero speed proved very effective.
These stabilizer systems employ low aspect
ratio fins with a relatively eccentric fin
shaft. In a “kicking” mode this type of fins
produces relatively high inertia forces when
accelerating from rest to maximum velocity
and a relatively high drag when moving at
constant speed. Design issues (see Figure
17) are the relative magnitude of the inertia
and drag contributions and the timing of the
fin response with respect to the roll mo-
tion9 .
A comparison of both stabilisation methods
cannot be very straightforward because of
the rather non-linear characteristics of the
problem. It is clear that a meaningful com-
parison can only be made for a well defined
target design condition.
Transit Conditions
Fin stabilizers are applied commonly on
board motor yachts. They are generally of
the non-retractable type. Because the trend
towards increasing block coefficients re-
duces the fin span the efficiency of this type
8
Stigter, C.: The performance of U-tanks as a passive anti-roll
device, TNO Rept.No. 81S, Feb. 1966
9
Dallinga, R.P., Roll stabilisation of motor yachts: Use of fin
stabilizers in anchored conditions, PROJECT 1999, Amsterdam,
1999.
of fins is limited in many cases. A solution
is to adopt two pairs of fins.
Because the damping from the fins at zero
speed is relatively small it is important to
maintain sufficient bilge keel length and
height. The alignment of the fins with bilge
keels and their interaction is a design issue.
Measurements of fin and bilge keel reaction
forces during tests in waves made us aware
of the fact that relatively high bilge keels
can eliminate a considerable part (as much
as 20%) of the benefits of the fins.
Figure 18 illustrates the typical contribu-
tions to the roll damping in transit cond i-
tions. It shows that the contribution related
to the mechanical reaction of the fins to the
roll velocity is the most important. Because
this contribution is directly proportional to
the adopted reaction gain (deg fin per deg/s
roll velocity) the question arises what
maximum gain can be applied. A level that
yields 5% exceedance of the mechanical
limits of the fin (typically 30-35 deg for
non-retractable fins) in the agreed target
wave height seems reasonable.
Course Keeping
Because numerical models do not reflect
experience from model tests very accurately
our understanding of course keeping prob-
lems is apparently rather limited. For this
reason we should be very careful with ge n-
eral remarks. What is clear is that a strong
rudder reaction to the yaw and rate of turn
does increase the roll response. This may
have implications for the settings and op-
erational limits of the autopilot.
4. Design Implications
Considering the foregoing basic character-
istics of motor yachts we see the following
challenges for the designers of these ves-
sels.
A basic characteristic of monohull motor
yachts is the distribution of the vertical ac-
celeration over the length of the vessels.
Regarding these characteristics it must be
concluded that the acceleration levels can
be reduced significantly with a full use of
the favourable area just aft of amidships. A
diesel-electric propulsion plant, combined
with POD propulsion units, might solve the
problems associated with a more forward
engine room location.
In anchored conditions POD propulsion
units might also be very useful as a means
to obtain and maintain a favourable heading
and to avoid swinging behind the anchor.
An alternative anchoring arrangement or a
special superstructure (using the wind to
stabilize the ship) may also be an option.
The transverse stability has a significant
influence on the roll and related transverse
accelerations. A lowest level which is just
“sufficiently” high to avoid problems in
stern-quartering seas seems the optimum
from a comfort point of view.
Rolling can be reduced significantly with
active stabilisation. Because the perform-
ance of bilge keels increases with increas-
ing roll angles, bilge keels are highly desir-
able as a safety measure in extreme cond i-
tions.
A problem in transit is the low efficiency of
low aspect ratio fins and their interaction
with the bilge keels. From a hydrodynamic
point of view high-aspect ratio fins would
be much more attractive. Off course the fact
that low-aspect ratio fins are used nowa-
days also at zero speed is conflicting with
the foregoing.
A combination of high bilge keels, an anti-
roll tank (for zero speed) and high-aspect
ratio fins for transit may give the best per-
formance if the required operational win-
dow is large.
The apparently significant interaction be-
tween course keeping and roll implies that
there may be opportunities in applying a
rudder-roll control.
Although the basic physics of bow-flare
and stern slamming are understood, the re-
lated discomfort levels due to hull girder
vibrations and noise are hard to quantify.
Despite this unsatisfactory state of the art it
seems clear that a stern-wedge can contrib-
ute significantly in reducing aft-body im-
pacts.
5. Research and Development
Although many aspects of seakeeping are
understood at a conceptual level, a number
of areas need development to obtain a se-
cure basis for yacht design. These areas are:
• optimisation of fin control when
used at zero speed;
• interaction of low-aspect ratio
fins with high bilge keels;
• effective stability and coupled-
roll-yaw response
However complex these issues may be, the
transfer of these fundamental insights in the
careful compromise that characterizes yacht
design and in on-board ship-management,
which requires the development of general,
robust and complete design tools may rep-
resent an even larger challenge.
 2
Vertcal accelerat ion RMS value [m/s2]
modern L/B=4 Bf 5
modern L/B=6 Bf 5
1.5 classic L/B=6 Bf 5

0.5

0
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Longitudinal coordinate [m]

Fig. 1 Vertical accelerations in head seas

Fig.4 RAO transverse accelerations, 16 knots

Resonant
Roll

Normal Wave
zero encounter Frequency Range
frequency
Low
Encounter
Frequency

Fig. 2 Vertical accelerations, 12 knots

Fig. 5 Encounter frequency at 16 knots
resonant
Zero-Encounter Frequency
conditions
resonant 0 knots
conditions
16 knots

Fig. 3 Transverse accelerations, zero speed Fig. 6 RAO roll excitation

 Zero-Encounter Frequency

Fig. 7 RAO roll response, 0 knots Fig. 10 RAO yaw excitation

Zero-Encounter Frequency

Fig. 8 RAO roll response, 16 knots

Fig. 11 RAO yaw response, 16 knots
Roll Dam ping

5 00
He ad in g 45 de g - Sp eed 16 kn ots
4 50
Roll Dam ping [ kNm s/ra d]

4 00

3 50 8
3 00 7
6
rms ro ll (deg)

2 50

2 00 5
150 4
100
3
50
2
0
1
Wave M. B.Keel Skeg Rudders Pass.Fins 0
0 0.5 1 1.5
Wave fre que ncy (r ad /s)
Fig. 9 Roll damping contributions zero speed
Fig. 12 Effect of rudder area on roll
Fig. 13 Steady wave system

Fig. 16 Recorded bow flare impact pressures

Deceleration
Fin Angle

Fin Reaction Force Decay

Fig. 14 RAO relative wave elevation bow,
12 knots

Stationary

1
HF Pressure Gauge Acceleration

Fig. 17 Fin reaction forces at zero speed

2
4
Roll Damping in Transit
Water
Surface 9
Panel on Force
Damping [MNms/rad]

8
3 Transducer 7
6
5
4
3
Fig. 15 Set-up impact load measurements 2
1
0
els

ift
y
ct.

e
t.
s.

dd
ers

ll L
ric

av
Ke
as

.A

lE
lF
dd

lW
Hu
.P

ab

B.
Ru

Hu

Hu
ab

Hu
St
St

Fig. 18 Roll damping contribution in transit