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'Sailing'?? Directly to Windward

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by brian eiland, Apr 19, 2009.

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  1. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    I couldn't put this subject thread under 'sailing' as its not really sailing in the true sense of the word. But it is powering directly to windward under the sole power of the wind

    ...from another forum on multihull craft
    www.windvinder.com

    Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean an unmanned “windship” makes its way through the waves - almost transparent, people say, wings everywhere… and it is headed, without a doubt, INTO THE WIND ! With three prows pointing straight into the wind it is underway across the world’s vastest ocean, following every windshift. No one knows how long it’s been travelling. People laugh at fishermen who talk about having seen it.

    But there it appears again; all but silently it moves through the swell, as if drawn by an invisible string: on an impossible course
  2. Capt Bill11

    Capt Bill11 Senior Member

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    Very cool, thanks.
  3. Codger

    Codger YF Wisdom Dept.

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    Still some beautiful and functional things that can be built out of that composite called wood.
  4. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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  5. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Herreshoff's model

    There's a model like this (air turbine blade directly connected to water propeller) in the model room of the Herreshoff museum. When I was doing research there a decade or so ago, the then-curator (the late and much missed Carleton Pinhero) told me that at one time Ted Turner bet Halsey Herreshoff a dime the thing wouldn't work. They took it out to the water and it did. FWIW.

    Cheers,

    Earl
  6. Codger

    Codger YF Wisdom Dept.

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    Did he actually get Turner to pay off on the bet?
  7. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    I do not know myself. That was a contribution by a fellow Earl on another forum. I thought it was an interesting contribution that should be shared.

    That fellow Herreshoff was certainly a forward thinker....
    " I can with a good whole-sail breeze, boat to windward faster, by a mile an hour at least, than any other sailing vessel afloat." -Nathanael Herreshoff , the infamous yacht designer speaking of his revolutionary 25' catamaran design, Amaryllis

    .....the year, 1876 !!