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Bruun, a man of firm conviction and even firmer enthusiasm, has applied this bit of Viking technology to his latest boat design. Like all his previous boats, the "Megin" is double-ended, a relatively broad-beamed vessel for oars or sail with surprising weight-carrying capacity.
Long and careful study of different phenomena - whales, dolphins, salmon, and in particular the few Viking ships that have survived through the centuries - gradually combined into a conviction that traditional boat hulls could be improved. A Viking age rock engraving, showing a vessel with what appears to be an extra keel, sent him to the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark, where half a dozen Viking ships are preserved.
"That was the key", he says. "When a ship’s hull moves, turbulence is generated, and it stops the boat from moving faster. If you try to increase the engine power, the boat merely forces itself into the water". "But when you study the body of a whale, you can find channels under the skin which make the water spin into spirals, instead of turbulence - that’s why a dolphin can stand on its tail, with half of its body out of the water".
The special shape of the Megin hull does exactly the same thing, Per Bruuns claims. As long as the steps near the keel are under water, Megin "runs on tramlines" and does so at a speed that leaves other boats longer waterlines well behind - although that is impossible according to conventional theories of boat design. His "tramlines" are fast-moving spirals of water that eliminate a lot of water-friction.
Bruun has adopted the Viking rock engraving as a trade mark for his boat, and has started to manufacture a fibreglass version of Megin, which is sold as a bare hull or fully-rigged on the Danish market. He has not tried to patent his hull form, ("You can’t patent something that’s over thousand years old", he says) and is convinced that before long the world will see a super tanker equipped with a Meginhufer. Meanwhile, the 4.65 m (15ft) Megin is being marketed of license for production outside Denmark.
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