[YachtForums]

This gives new meaning to the term "sailing" ships...

http://www.skysails.info/index.php?L=1

This isn't the first time kites have been used for auxilary power, but take a look at the power output specs on SkySail's site! This is clearly a good way to offset rising fuel costs, while adding a level of redundancy.

Do you think it will cross over to the yachting sector?

(thanks to YF member DreamsFloatJoe for the link)

[Codger]

I would think that if real world operation stands up over a year or so, that this technology will fly. Makes perfect sense. Would have to question the retrofit statement. The attachment points would require serious strengthening!

[Ken Bracewell]

I wonder what typ of endorsement I'll have to have on my license in order to run that rig?!

[tartanski]

Originally Posted by YachtForums

This gives new meaning to the term "sailing" ships...

http://www.skysails.info/index.php?L=1

This isn't the first time kites have been used for auxilary power, but take a look at the power output specs on SkySail's site! This is clearly a good way to offset rising fuel costs, while adding a level of redundancy.

Do you think it will cross over to the yachting sector?

(thanks to YF member DreamsFloatJoe for the link)

I remeber reading on thier site that they have an order to put it on a yacht in Blohm and Voss, Thinking about it I wasnt too sure of the sense of that , except for perhaps novelty value or for those Trasatlantic ferry runs.

I encourage everyone to look att he videos on the site, the idea is very simple but it is the control system and the software to optimise the route that seems to me to be the real innovation.

[Rene GER]

Originally Posted by YachtForums

Do you think it will cross over to the yachting sector?

In the newest issue of "Boote Exklusiv" is something about the skysail. They show a computer rendering with a motoryacht and a skysail and they say, that the company who build the skysail is talking with some yacht owners.

A pilot project will/should start in the summer

In my opionion it can be another fore sail for sail boats.

[YachtNews]

is that really feasible though?....what happens if the wind leaves it/?/

[Rene GER]

Originally Posted by yachtluver

is that really feasible though?....what happens if the wind leaves it/?/

Start the engines

[YachtForums]

Speaking of kites, I saw this guy out boating today. Seems like it could be a fun tow-toy for a yacht, IF... the stall speed is lower than the cruise speed. If you're not familiar with these, they are large hang-gliders attached to an inflatable dinghy.

[YachtNews]

Thats interesting carl, i love to see those flying, maybe those could be an addition to the toys fleet that a yacht has??...what do you all think of that ?

[tartanski]

Originally Posted by yachtluver

is that really feasible though?....what happens if the wind leaves it/?/

Thats the clever part, they have a pod beneath the sail and it automatically increases or decreases the sail area depending on the wind load. If the wind drops it will winch it in before it can drop in the sea. If the wind is too strong it will do a kamikaze to save the on deck systems.

[YachtNews]

Originally Posted by tartanski

Thats the clever part, they have a pod beneath the sail and it automatically increases or decreases the sail area depending on the wind load. If the wind drops it will winch it in before it can drop in the sea. If the wind is too strong it will do a kamikaze to save the on deck systems.

I'll have to see that myself in working progress. I guess it will would work just like a parachutte?

[Guilly]

On May the 25th it will take place at NAVALIA (http://www.navalia.com.es/index_eng.htm), an international shipbuilding and maritime industry exhibition in Vigo, Spain, a conference on new propulsion systems for fishing vessels. As chairman of the organizing bureau for those conference, I've invited SkySails to present papers, so they are coming to Vigo to present the system. I'll post here more info when I know more.

Kites for ships propulsion is not a new idea, as the people from Kiteship (http://www.kiteship.com/), at least, have been pursuing it since some time ago. The Skysails trick is what they proclaim as an authomatic release-recovery system, as well as the control unit.

From Skysails site:
"A corresponding sales contract has been signed between the Bremen-based shipping company Beluga and Hamburg’s manufacturer SkySails.
Thus, Beluga Shipping is the first shipping company worldwide to equip a ship with the towing kite propulsion system...."

Cheers.

[CNRocks]

Guilly -- do you have any more info on Kiteship and/or Kitesail? Did they present in May as indicated in your prior post ? Thanks

CNRocks

[Loren Schweizer]

Carl--- you wondered if the skysail thing will ever cross over to the yachting sector.
Man, you are making me feel old!

Back when the last ice age was ending, oh, around 1979 or so, there was a guy by the name of Harry Scholl down in the Magic City (Miami) who was building a line of boats called 'Infinity'.
He was ahead of his time with his patented Delta Conic hullform, propellers fabricated from FRP, a whole host of other futuristic stuff and...
he rigged up a wishbone mast on one of his ( forgive my half-heimers)70 or 80-ft. powerboats from which he flew a spinnaker.
It might have been in Skip Allen's "Southern Boating" that the boat was featured, running downwind south of the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Screaming success? Even back then, sailors and powerboaters wouldn't even look at one another going up & down the ditch.

Harry was no marketing guy.

[brian eiland]

"At his stall at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, Rob Humphrey presented the plan of a SkySails super yacht. The design has been specially developed with the features of the SkySails-System in mind, to maximise the advantages the system offers. The yacht is a 40 metres long Trimaran which can attain speeds of up to 20 knots using the SkySails propulsion alone - without support from the main engine - provided that suitable winds are present."

http://www.skysails.info/fileadmin/u..._Humphreys.pdf