3 ms·

I’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 th

I’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 ago
No, 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.