# The Knuckle bow



## zelo1954 (Apr 5, 2005)

Folks:
On-going lately we've had a number of great photos of the vessels of the Union SS posted. The knuckle bow wasn't of course limited to these vessels - certain flatiron colliers come to mind as well. Can anyone say what advantages the knuckle gives? Is it simply extra net tonnage - or are there other advantages?
Cheers, Geoff


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## Bearsie (Nov 11, 2006)

Nobody would want more Net Tonnage (NRT) that costs money.
Unless you mean tdw which would be more payload.
All info I can find seems to be race related ( and Kiwi related) and points towards increased speed.
See : http://www.cupinfo.com/features/bows/en/bows1.php

A rather new developmant seems to be the X-Bow from Norway offered commercially by Ullstein Ship yards for Offshore vessels.
Which seems to offer some surprising advantages in sea keeping in bad weather.
See: http://www.marinetalk.com/articles-...ve-Anchor-Handling-Vessel-ULS004111931IN.html

Although little seems new if you compare those shapes to a Viking Langskib


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