Tunnel Boats

Tunnel Boats are catamaran style hulls in which the driver sits down to drive inside a cockpit and are designed to race in rough water conditions.

These boats utilize a similar tunnel as the hydroplane, but the sponsons run the entire length of the boat, creating a wing profile when viewed from the front. The lower surface of the air trap acts like the underside of an airfoil and the upper surface of the sponsons are the top of the airfoil. This design creates a great amount of lift allowing these boats to come on plane very quickly and accelerate to maximum speed in a very short distance.

Another feature of this type of boat is it’s ability to turn sharply at high speeds. You will see these boats drive straight to the turn buoy and then whip into an almost 90 degree turn on a dime, then accelerate away again to the next turn! These boats go through the water at speeds ranging from 35 to 100+ MPH.