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As a sailor I've been watching these develop over the years and usual what is old is now new again. I can't imagine the latest advances in sailing, foiling, are

As a sailor I've been watching these develop over the years and usual what is old is now new again. I can't imagine the latest advances in sailing, foiling, are going to be included anytime soon.

jillesvangurp 4y ago
They are already being included on an experimental basis to cut fuel usage. Not 100% but double digit percentages are possible. There are a few solutions that can be retrofitted to existing ships relatively easy.
kibwen 4y ago
I was about to laugh at the idea of a hydrofoil cargo ship, but then again I suppose that it's not theoretically impossible... even if we assume it would be highly impractical, it would be fun to see someone do the math and figure out exactly how impractical they would be.
- DavidPeiffer 4y ago
  https://www.boundarylayer.tech/ https://www.boundarylayer.tech/ There's a Y Combinator supported company pursuing it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662056 3rd comment is from an employee. Big benefit being quick turnaround. Load 160 containers and start the ship rather than loading/unloading a few thousand while the other tens of thousands of containers sit on the ship doing nothing.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    Of course there is YC company for this. Too lazy to google it, but how many of the founding team are actual naval architects with expirience in container ships? Kind of reminds me on the company trying to develop robots to build solar farms.
    - yetihehe 4y ago
      > Kind of reminds me on the company trying to develop robots to build solar farms. Yeah, it will be unnecessary once we get panels which can be unfolded just by driving a truck over field placing entire row directly from trailer already connected with cables in one go like [0]. Then just connect the rows. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G38VXkIFSG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G38VXkIFSG8
  - nradov 4y ago
    Boundary Layer Technologies appears to have dropped their plans for a cargo ship and pivoted into jet skis. There's just not much market demand for slightly faster ocean transport. The basic technology of a small hydrofoil cargo ship probably would have worked, but the construction, maintenance, and fuel costs would have been huge. Plus hydrofoils don't do well in heavy sea states. And if it collided with a floating hazard like a lost shipping container or a big tree trunk while foiling then the results could be unpleasant.
    - nine_k 4y ago
      That won't be "slightly" faster; I suspect a hydrofoil ship would be 4-x times as fast, if it could be built. We would see oceangoing military hydrofoil ships, for instance. But, AFAIK, the Pegasus line was the last bunch of sizable hydrofoil ships the US Navy operated [1]. But, AFAICT, for hydrofoil to work, it should lift the watercraft well above the waves, which works fine on rivers, and works somehow in calmer seas; I remember Greece used hydrofoil ships to communicate between its islands. I have trouble imagining the size of hydrofoil "stilts" required to overcome larger ocean waves. The hull should also be much stronger, with few points of support. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus-class_hydrofoil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus-class_hydrofoil
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - BazookaMusic 4y ago
        They're still used, https://www.ferries.gr/en/ferry-companies/aegean-flying-dolphins/ https://www.ferries.gr/en/ferry-companies/aegean-flying-dolp...
        Gwypaas 4y ago
        Comparatively tiny built in USSR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_(hydrofoil) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_(hydrofoil) There is also the Boeing 929 Jetfoil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_929 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_929

As a sailor I've been watching these develop over the years and usual what is old is now new again. I can't imagine the latest advances in sailing, foiling, are going to be included anytime soon.

jillesvangurp 4y ago

They are already being included on an experimental basis to cut fuel usage. Not 100% but double digit percentages are possible. There are a few solutions that can be retrofitted to existing ships relatively easy.

kibwen 4y ago

I was about to laugh at the idea of a hydrofoil cargo ship, but then again I suppose that it's not theoretically impossible... even if we assume it would be highly impractical, it would be fun to see someone do the math and figure out exactly how impractical they would be.

DavidPeiffer 4y ago
https://www.boundarylayer.tech/ https://www.boundarylayer.tech/ There's a Y Combinator supported company pursuing it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662056 3rd comment is from an employee. Big benefit being quick turnaround. Load 160 containers and start the ship rather than loading/unloading a few thousand while the other tens of thousands of containers sit on the ship doing nothing.
- hef19898 4y ago
  Of course there is YC company for this. Too lazy to google it, but how many of the founding team are actual naval architects with expirience in container ships? Kind of reminds me on the company trying to develop robots to build solar farms.
  - yetihehe 4y ago
    > Kind of reminds me on the company trying to develop robots to build solar farms. Yeah, it will be unnecessary once we get panels which can be unfolded just by driving a truck over field placing entire row directly from trailer already connected with cables in one go like [0]. Then just connect the rows. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G38VXkIFSG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G38VXkIFSG8
- nradov 4y ago
  Boundary Layer Technologies appears to have dropped their plans for a cargo ship and pivoted into jet skis. There's just not much market demand for slightly faster ocean transport. The basic technology of a small hydrofoil cargo ship probably would have worked, but the construction, maintenance, and fuel costs would have been huge. Plus hydrofoils don't do well in heavy sea states. And if it collided with a floating hazard like a lost shipping container or a big tree trunk while foiling then the results could be unpleasant.
  - nine_k 4y ago
    That won't be "slightly" faster; I suspect a hydrofoil ship would be 4-x times as fast, if it could be built. We would see oceangoing military hydrofoil ships, for instance. But, AFAIK, the Pegasus line was the last bunch of sizable hydrofoil ships the US Navy operated [1]. But, AFAICT, for hydrofoil to work, it should lift the watercraft well above the waves, which works fine on rivers, and works somehow in calmer seas; I remember Greece used hydrofoil ships to communicate between its islands. I have trouble imagining the size of hydrofoil "stilts" required to overcome larger ocean waves. The hull should also be much stronger, with few points of support. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus-class_hydrofoil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus-class_hydrofoil
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - BazookaMusic 4y ago
      They're still used, https://www.ferries.gr/en/ferry-companies/aegean-flying-dolphins/ https://www.ferries.gr/en/ferry-companies/aegean-flying-dolp...
      - Gwypaas 4y ago
        Comparatively tiny built in USSR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_(hydrofoil) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_(hydrofoil) There is also the Boeing 929 Jetfoil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_929 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_929