3 ms·
I'd pay money to be a passenger on the maiden voyage. They should definitely include a few passenger cabins, as many freighters have. I have never been on a cr
by jerzyt 6y ago
I'd pay money to be a passenger on the maiden voyage.
They should definitely include a few passenger cabins, as many freighters have. I have never been on a cruise - has zero appeal to me, but this would be awesome.
I'd like to see more detail about this project, though.
As others have commented, pure wind power is not going to be commercially feasible. There's too much variation in weather to work within current logistics demands.
They do anticipate that it will take 12 days to cross the Atlantic, compared to 8 days for fossil fuel vessels. Is that to have enough slack in the schedule to sit idle for the port entry if the winds are good and they arrive early?
But, I hope it's a success.
- sradman 6y agoThe Gulf Stream [1] is very real and very consistent. I think we forget the important role this system played in the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States as global powers. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream
- _ph_ 6y agoAs the ship also has an engine, the wind situation probably more decides about the amount of fuel used rather than the schedule. But indeed, it would be attractive to have a passenger section.
- runarberg 6y agoI’m guessing that the ship is actually battery powered (or something similar) and the sails are only used as windmills to charge the batteries (or supplement the primary fuel). So unless the wind conditions are really unfavorable you can still have pretty predictable crossing times.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y agoNo, the renderings are very clearly solid wingsails. People have tried schemes like you suggest with propeller hybrids, but it's much less efficient than just a sail, and a solid wing is about 3x more efficient than a simple sail at the same area. Don't underestimate how much force can be generated by a couple 100 square meters worth of wing.