A lot of my interest in sailing is related to my hobby of tinkering. I wanted to bring up an idea I had. When I was a kid about 4 or 5, my parents knew a crazy old man that had a roadside attraction gone to ruin. He had elaborate devices powered by the wind , dolls that road bicycles on carousels and the like.
I was intrigued by the vertical wind mills that powered his machines and had the idea to attach one to a small vehicle like a dune buggy etc.
Later I discovered that long ago someone made a carriage with a gear box on the rear axle coupled to such a rotor. It could drive right into the wind as it was driven by the spinning rotor. I was wondering how that might fair on a boat? Could such a device power a propeller with the wind? If so would it be any real advantage over a conventional device like a sail.
I was intrigued by the vertical wind mills that powered his machines and had the idea to attach one to a small vehicle like a dune buggy etc.
Later I discovered that long ago someone made a carriage with a gear box on the rear axle coupled to such a rotor. It could drive right into the wind as it was driven by the spinning rotor. I was wondering how that might fair on a boat? Could such a device power a propeller with the wind? If so would it be any real advantage over a conventional device like a sail.