Airplanes have been using something similar for years, they call them vortex generators, they help keep the flow attached at high angles of attack, for more lift and a lower stall speed, but they do not make you go faster.
DC and the boys tried some ribbed stick on plastic sheets on the bottom of their AC boats some years back, I don't know if they ever decided it was much faster or not.
One of the simplest and most interesting vortex generation tricks I saw was used on a sailplane. It was an adhesive strip similar to the fabric part of velcro with rounded serrations on one edge. The strip was placed serrated edge forwards just before main camber point near the leading edge of the wings.
Another one (from the book "More Sail Trim" edited by Anne Madden)was the placement of rows of offset holes (approx 1/4") placed at approx 1/3 (I think) chord in the sail. The air leakage created stabilising vortices on the leeward side delaying separation of the flow and hence turbulent drag. The sails apparently demonstrated greater tolerance to poor sail trim and enabled the boat to point higher.
Cheshirecatman
