6 ms·

Why wouldn't you use the wind energy also? It's a lot of fun, readily available and a lot cheaper…

by Tepix 5y ago

jjcm 5y ago
From the images on the site it looks like it deploys a sailing kite in addition to the solar powered engines.
- KineticLensman 5y ago
  Oh hi jjcim. Another cool research project from where I used to work. [0] Back in the day, the development building had a great view of the runway during the Farnborough air show and my pals on the Zephyr project would give me a shout if anything interesting was taking off. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Zephyr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Zephyr
Retric 5y ago
Sails have several major downsides, most notably they take up a lot of deck space and cause a boat to tilt to the side. If you’re regularly sailing long distances it’s much faster but top speed isn’t that big of a deal when your living on the boat full time. Other options like kites and wind turbines can work well but they all all significant upfront costs as well as ongoing maintenance issues. Spending that same money on a bigger boat gets you much more space, and of course a generator can give you redundancy or higher top speeds.
- Fiahil 5y ago
  > Sails have several major downsides[..] Yes, but it makes less noise.
  - Jeff_Brown 5y ago
    Also less disturbing to the ecosystem below than a prop.
  - adgjlsfhk1 5y ago
    a sail (especially when luffing) is really f**ing loud
- pbhjpbhj 5y ago
  >top speed isn’t that big of a deal when your living on the boat full time.// If you're living on your boat 365 then I imagine avoiding severe weather becomes more important?
  - Tepix 5y ago
    On average liveaboards are sailing around 10% of the time. Most of the time if bad weather is approaching they will just stay in a safe location.
  - bumbada 5y ago
    This is the reason Weather reports and forecast are so important for people on boats. Most people living in boats actually live on ports and don't get very far from the coast most of the time.
  - saberdancer 5y ago
    You are right but it depends on the skillset and general lifestyle needs of the person. I've watched (a little) some of the sail around the world channels on YouTube and one couple moved to a performance trimaran, the guys reasoning was that he wanted to have speed to get out of the way if the weather changed. For those that do not really stray far from the shore or who are willing to take more risk for more comfort, they use a slower boat.
- jws 5y ago
  …cause a boat to tilt to the side… This is a net positive. The alternative is to roll back and forth with the waves. It’s much nicer with the sail up and ata bit of a heel. Also, just to throw this in, one of the world cruising sailing couples which wrote for the magazines switched to a diesel powered boat as they aged and found that they spent less of fuel than they had on new sails. Sails are consumables if you care about performance.
  - lstodd 5y ago
    The alternative is a catamaran. Your point on the diesels still stands. Properly designed cats are unsinkable and don't readily capsize, but not weathering a storm is worth every penny invested in diesels. Besides one needs them in marinas anyway.
    - _ph_ 5y ago
      Electrical engines are more and more becoming a thing, especially for sail boats, where they server more for harbor and anchoring than covering distances.
  - silisili 5y ago
    Interesting last point...curious why is that? Do they get battered from weather and physically tear, or do they just stretch/thin over time?
    - Tepix 5y ago
      It really depends on the type of sails you buy. The cheapest ones last the longest but offer the worst performance.
    - jws 5y ago
      They lose their ability to hold their "shape" and become less efficient. This is primarily a concern for people that want to go as fast as possible. I've been perfectly happy with sails after 20 years of light use. I mean, I can see that they don't really have the best shape, but I'm still sailing so all is good.
oefnak 5y ago
The second link of the parent comment describes a optional automatic parasail tug.

Why wouldn't you use the wind energy also? It's a lot of fun, readily available and a lot cheaper…

by Tepix 5y ago

Why wouldn't you use the wind energy also? It's a lot of fun, readily available and a lot cheaper…

jjcm 5y ago

From the images on the site it looks like it deploys a sailing kite in addition to the solar powered engines.

KineticLensman 5y ago
Oh hi jjcim. Another cool research project from where I used to work. [0] Back in the day, the development building had a great view of the runway during the Farnborough air show and my pals on the Zephyr project would give me a shout if anything interesting was taking off. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Zephyr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Zephyr

Retric 5y ago

Sails have several major downsides, most notably they take up a lot of deck space and cause a boat to tilt to the side. If you’re regularly sailing long distances it’s much faster but top speed isn’t that big of a deal when your living on the boat full time. Other options like kites and wind turbines can work well but they all all significant upfront costs as well as ongoing maintenance issues. Spending that same money on a bigger boat gets you much more space, and of course a generator can give you redundancy or higher top speeds.

Fiahil 5y ago
> Sails have several major downsides[..] Yes, but it makes less noise.
- Jeff_Brown 5y ago
  Also less disturbing to the ecosystem below than a prop.
- adgjlsfhk1 5y ago
  a sail (especially when luffing) is really f**ing loud
pbhjpbhj 5y ago
>top speed isn’t that big of a deal when your living on the boat full time.// If you're living on your boat 365 then I imagine avoiding severe weather becomes more important?
- Tepix 5y ago
  On average liveaboards are sailing around 10% of the time. Most of the time if bad weather is approaching they will just stay in a safe location.
- bumbada 5y ago
  This is the reason Weather reports and forecast are so important for people on boats. Most people living in boats actually live on ports and don't get very far from the coast most of the time.
- saberdancer 5y ago
  You are right but it depends on the skillset and general lifestyle needs of the person. I've watched (a little) some of the sail around the world channels on YouTube and one couple moved to a performance trimaran, the guys reasoning was that he wanted to have speed to get out of the way if the weather changed. For those that do not really stray far from the shore or who are willing to take more risk for more comfort, they use a slower boat.
jws 5y ago
…cause a boat to tilt to the side… This is a net positive. The alternative is to roll back and forth with the waves. It’s much nicer with the sail up and ata bit of a heel. Also, just to throw this in, one of the world cruising sailing couples which wrote for the magazines switched to a diesel powered boat as they aged and found that they spent less of fuel than they had on new sails. Sails are consumables if you care about performance.
- lstodd 5y ago
  The alternative is a catamaran. Your point on the diesels still stands. Properly designed cats are unsinkable and don't readily capsize, but not weathering a storm is worth every penny invested in diesels. Besides one needs them in marinas anyway.
  - _ph_ 5y ago
    Electrical engines are more and more becoming a thing, especially for sail boats, where they server more for harbor and anchoring than covering distances.
- silisili 5y ago
  Interesting last point...curious why is that? Do they get battered from weather and physically tear, or do they just stretch/thin over time?
  - Tepix 5y ago
    It really depends on the type of sails you buy. The cheapest ones last the longest but offer the worst performance.
  - jws 5y ago
    They lose their ability to hold their "shape" and become less efficient. This is primarily a concern for people that want to go as fast as possible. I've been perfectly happy with sails after 20 years of light use. I mean, I can see that they don't really have the best shape, but I'm still sailing so all is good.

oefnak 5y ago

The second link of the parent comment describes a optional automatic parasail tug.