Kelvin wake pattern

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Fr = 0.5

Fr = 1

Fr = 2

Kelvin wake simulation for Gaussian distortion (shown besides the wake) at various Froude numbers

Waterfowl and boats moving across the surface of water produce a wake pattern, first explained mathematically by Lord Kelvin and known today as the Kelvin wake pattern.^[1]

This pattern consists of two wake lines that form the arms of a chevron, V, with the source of the wake at the vertex of the V. For sufficiently slow motion, each wake line is offset from the path of the wake source by around arcsin(1/3) = 19.47° and is made up of feathery wavelets angled at roughly 53° to the path.