The Perfect Catamaran?

[wingsail]

Is this the Perfect Catamaran ?

"Winged technology has as many advantages for the 40-50 foot boat owner and
operator as it does for the superyacht operator. It's hands free, it's
safe, it's green and it has lower maintenance costs. It takes virtually no
manpower to keep a wing upright and to monitor the controls, yet traditional
soft sails require knowledgeable bodies to make sail changes and to trim
them. Thin-filmed solar sheets reduce fuel costs, because you're not running
engines all of the time to recharge batteries. It's a lot less expensive to
replace individual panels on wing elements than it is to replace old sails,"
said an enthusiastic Pete Melvin who is looking forward to seeing winged
multihull fleets of all sizes circling the globe.

Computer controled WingSailTM and sail-by-wire capability what are your thoughts?

[sailingdog]

Wingsail—

First major problem with that design is weight aloft. That's got to add a lot of weight up high, where a catamaran, or for that matter any sailboat, can really least afford it.

Second major problem is you can't reef the sails. If you get caught out in a storm by that, you're toast.

Third, sail by wire is not a feasible reality when it comes to small sailboats, and even that beast is a small sailboat by my standards. The electrical/electronics on a small sailboat are a luxury and should not be relied upon for mission critical systems unless there is a manual backup.

Also, seeing as this is your first post here, I would highly recommend you read the POST on full disclosure, since I am guessing that you have some relationship to the designer or maker of that wingsail.

I'd also highly recommend you read the POST in my signature to help you get the most out of your time here. It has tips on searching sailnet, writing a good post, etc.. Welcome to the asylum.

[chucklesR]

Looks like a standard M and M (Leopard) with a wishful piece of ghost tech stuck on in place of a mast and sail. With no foresail I bet it points just as poorly as it looks like it will.

The perfect catamaran for me is the one I already own.

[sailingdog]

And yours is far less likely to get turtled in a storm.


BTW, it probably won't point for crap, but it probably won't go downwind all that well either...not much surface area there for the wind to catch.

Originally Posted by chucklesR

Looks like a standard M and M (Leopard) with a wishful piece of ghost tech stuck on in place of a mast and sail. With no foresail I bet it points just as poorly as it looks like it will.

The perfect catamaran for me is the one I already own.

[SecondWindNC]

To me it looks hideous and I share SD's concerns about weight aloft and what to do when things get nasty.

[EscapadeCaliber40LRC]

Looks like an aeroplane with one wing in the water. Wonder at what wind speed it will kite ? Reminds me of that unfortunate crew on the South africa to Seattle delivery that were lost a year or two back off the Oregon coast. Sad.

[fullkeel7]

Well, I just hope they get some testing done on this thing before the descendants of Orville and Wilbur sue for a Kitty Hawk patent infringement. Looks like they may be missing a wing section and some tail assemblies.....Quick, someone check the museum!! But hey, it might work!?

Sailor's are SOOO skeptical..

[sailingdog]

First, the patent on the Kitty Hawk is long expired...so that's not a problem. Who's being skeptical? Wing sails like that monstrosity do add a lot more weight aloft—that is a statement of fact. They are not reefable—that is a statement of fact. That design is likely to have poor downwind performance because it does not have enough surface area—that's a statement of fact. That design does away with the jib and is likely to point worse than the traditionally rigged catamaran it is loosely based on—is an opinion, but more than likely a correct one.

Originally Posted by fullkeel7

Well, I just hope they get some testing done on this thing before the descendants of Orville and Wilbur sue for a Kitty Hawk patent infringement. Looks like they may be missing a wing section and some tail assemblies.....Quick, someone check the museum!! But hey, it might work!?

Sailor's are SOOO skeptical..

[ckgreenman]

Didn't the USA America's cup team play with (and discard) a Wing design a while back? I think this is one of those things that looks good on paper but in practice is less than optimal.

[sailingdog]

For a match racing boat, it might be workable, especially with the amount of logistical support the AC teams have. For a cruising boat, it's dead in the water...a complete non-starter. Not being able to control the conditions you'll be out in, as the AC teams can to a point, and being without significant support resources, a wing sail is a death sentence. It will cause the boat a lot of problems when it gets caught by a storm.

Originally Posted by ckgreenman

Didn't the USA America's cup team play with (and discard) a Wing design a while back? I think this is one of those things that looks good on paper but in practice is less than optimal.