Omer wing sail

[US27inKS]

I was trying to find out how the wing sail on the new Oracle cup boat operated and was controlled when I ran across this Omer wing sail

According to the maker, it's a wing sail that's easily controlled, reefable, goes faster and heels less. It's designed to retrofit onto existing boats, but if you already have an unstayed mast it would be a big plus. I would love to see one in action.

[Faster]

Interesting... Looks a lot more complicated to hoist and douse... but perhaps simpler to trim this set up overall while sailing. Some crazy angles when running!

I'd worry about the complication in a real building breeze, but time and trials will tell. Seems to me the biggest issue with a retrofit would be the engineering of the support for the rig... as you say an exisiting free standing rig would be an advantage.

What does it all cost? and will it catch on?...

[US27inKS]

Not really sure it would be more complicated to hoist and douse. It appears to be made in 3 sections, and should hoist and douse by pulling 3 halyards instead of 2. I guess that would be more work than rolling up a headsail, but still not a lot.

I don't know if you saw this page Upwind driving Force but it looks like you could point really high with one of these things.

I would really love to know how much they cost, but it looks to be new enough that the builder probably doesn't know until he spec'd out each piece to fit each boat.

[US27inKS]

This tells a pretty good story.
Performance