this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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They are literally kites—not sails. I’ve never seen a sail flying 100 ft above a ship before.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinnaker
When a vessel is running (meaning moving in the same direction as the wind) it can fly a spinnaker, which is just a kite on short lines.
And the load on its sheets is enormous. Oh boy can it cause a problem if anyone makes a mistake handling it! Now imagine the load from the kites proposed. I wonder if that is even feasible with today's materials.
Edit: did some reading around. So it seems at current level the system can be used as a supplementary propulsion saving some fuel. Ahoy, mates, we are back and our sails are higher than ever!
When it comes to material stresses the sails can always be scaled down, but off the top of my head kevlar and zylon would be good candidates for getting the biggest, toughest sail in an economic fashion.
If you want to go down a related rabbit hole take a look at the sails used in regattas. The technology and money that goes into them is ridiculous.
Oh I know something about regattas, did some myself, and the base of one of America 's cup boats is nearby. Truly impressive.
The mast on the ship in the picture is litteraly 127 feet.
The proposal mentions 300m, so...
And I am replying to a comment about 100ft not the post...
Congrats? I'm bringing up that the numbers in the comment were meaningless because they were way off what was proposed.
Thanks? Not sure what you are on about, but have a nice day!
I saw it once in sea of thieves. Pretty sure it was a graphics glitch