The kite and the sea
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7201887.stm

I have seen a full program docu on it some months ago. In it's own way it is impressive.

Funny how old school sail and steam ships were left to die a slow death but now they go back to adding a sail(kite) that assists in powering the boat. Amazing really. Imagine what we would have today if steam/sail vessels were keep up and technology was kept up on it. :hmm:

Very clever, I hope this catches on. Why not use the wind?

One thing puzzles me, in this image, the cargo ship appears to be rigged to sail in reverse...?

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...urn_wind_2.gif


More info on their website

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It just had found a parking lot, you know.

Lol, even more versatile than I thought :up:

Wow, looks like some thought went into this! You are right Neal, it is very versatile indeed. I hope this flys....sort of speaking.

It's only rated to winds up to 40 kts, however. I figure a lot of kites are going to end up shredded, in the first few years anyway.

And since it seems to require extensive weather routing to be efficient (It's useless in a head wind), it's not worth it for short sea trades.

In any case, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

If it cuts the fuel useage by 5% over a year for the vessel, then they will be doing well. I hope that it does work out and new designs take shape.:up:

They hope for 20%. On TV they said there are plans for kites that in the future should save even 40%. Well, TV, so take that with care. the kite can alter the altitude, making use of side-/sheerwinds as well - you do not depend on tail winds exclusively.

Over the long haul, that is pretty good. Perhaps they should look into a parafoil as well for this application.

Actually, as per the article it appears that the system is fairly smart and doesn't require following winds... :hmm:

If you check their website, there's a diagram showing that it cannot be used in a head wind. I don't know how close a tack they can take, but it looks like it can get somewhat close.

The drawing does indeed look backwards, but the rotating pictures at their site http://www.skysails.info/ show it frontwards.

At first I was wondering whether the kite was towed behind and provided lift, thus reducing hydrodynamic drag, but then I read Etienne's post and saw that was impossible.

Pretty cool idea.