A Brief History of Human Powered Transportation

Once skin-friction drag had been reduced by using the hydrofoil configuration for high speeds, aerodynamic drag became a concern in the attempt to better the 20 knot target speed. The cowling shown in the photograph was added to the superstructure, but was found to make the vessel uncontrolable at high speed or in a cross-wind. In addition, the human engine is only about 25% efficient and requires active evaporative cooling from an airflow over the body. The shroud did not provide this and operator comfort was significantly reduced. Both record runs were made with the unshrouded cockpit. The clips below show these runs.

From: Decavitator: Human Powered Hydrofoil
http://lancet.mit.edu/decavitator/Decavitator.html

Mark Drela

Dava Newman