Hydroplane

:This article is about the hydroplane, a specific type of motorboat used in sport of hydroplane racing. See hydroplaning for other uses.

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A hydroplane (or hydro, or thunderboat) is a very specific type of motorboat used exclusively for racing.

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One of the most unique things about these boats is that they only use the water they're on for propulsion and steering (not for floatation)--when going full speed they are primarily held aloft by a principle of aerodynamics known as "planing", with only a tiny fraction of their hull actually touching the water.

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Propulsion: Propulsion may refer to:...

Steering: Steering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. which allow for a car or other vehicle to follow a course determined by its driver, except in the case of rail transport in which rail tracks combined together with railroad switches provide the steering function....

Aerodynamics: Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas flows, first analysed by George Cayley in the 1800s. The solution of an aerodynamic problem normally involves calculating for various properties of the flow, such as velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as a functio...