Posted on 01/20/2008 3:00:39 PM PST by blam
Kite-powered ship sets sail for greener future
Ben Martin and Tony Paterson in Berlin
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 20/01/2008
A cargo ship pulled by a giant, parachute-shaped kite will leave Germany on Tuesday on a voyage that could herald a new "green" age of commercial sailing on the high seas.
The owners of the MS Beluga, a 462ft cargo vessel, will try to prove that modern steel ships can harness wind power and reduce their reliance on diesel engines.
During the journey from Bremen to Venezuela, the crew will deploy a SkySail, a 160 square metre kite which will fly more than 600ft above the vessel, where winds are stronger and more consistent than at sea level.
Its inventor, Stephan Wrage, a 34-year-old German engineer, claims the kite will significantly reduce carbon emissions, cutting diesel consumption by up to 20 per cent and saving £800 a day in fuel costs. He believes an even bigger kite, up to 5,000 square metres, could result in fuel savings of up to 35 per cent.
He got the idea while flying a kite as a child, and has now developed the concept into a hybrid of the sailing ships of old and motorised modern craft.
The MS Beluga's journey comes more than a century after the world's commercial sailing fleet was replaced by coal-burning steamships. Mr Wrage hopes for a similar revolution, and believes the kites could be suitable for up to 60 per cent of the world's 90,000 commercial ships: "Only the tough conditions imposed on a ship during a long voyage of this kind can show whether the SkySail is effective and whether the materials used in the kite can stand up to the stresses and strains," he said.
The kite works on a similar principle to rigs used by kite-surfers, who skim the water at up to 55mph, but bears little resemblance to canvas sails on conventional sailing ships.
Instead of support from a mast, boom and rope, the SkySail is tied to the bow by a single line that also contains a cable linking it to a computer, which controls it. It acts like a child's kite, carving figure-of-eight patterns in the air, reaching speeds four times higher than the prevailing wind, which dramatically increases its pulling power.
Isn’t that called a “Sail?”
This is such a great idea, because everyone knows the wind is always at your back.
Thanks for the post Blam. It’s actually fun to watch some of the antics of the mentally green.
So can it “tack” through a headwind?
Uh huh. With the Owl and the Pussycat as captain and first mate.
I think it’s wonderful what “true believers” are willing to inflict on actual people when they don’t have to deal with the day-to-day realities. Sea and wind conditions can change by the moment, and I’m sure deckhands are looking forward to the good old days of taking in sail at midnight, aloft in a squall, and owners really want to double and triple crew sizes so they can abide by the decisions of some drooling socialist government functionary.
It doesn't have to.
It uses prevailing winds for the long haul and then motors to make land fall.
Or it simply winches down in adverse winds and starts engines.
But you may guess what the weakness is.
Ask any sailor.
It has to do with electricity.
Another wangdoodle design idea.
I suppose the price of fuel is driving the idea.
YOu mean the wind isn’t always behind you? Who knew?
The other funny thing about this is going to be watching their investment rip apart and fly away during a squall.
If they only put it up in perfect clear weather with the wind behind, it won’t be up long enough to pay for itself.
Ping
Back in the 1920’s a man named Flettner came up with a wind powered rotor ship which could sail closer to the wind (20-30 degrees) than this oversized kite-surfing rig. It had tall cylinders resembling smokestacks that rotated against the wind direction powered by electric motors. The Cousteau boys built a large trimaran with a similar setup and traveled many nautical miles with it - I was lucky enough to get a tour while they were tied up in Juneau, Alaska in the 90’s.
Based on the chart, they could save the same amount of fuel by going 2 knots slower.
Fine. Whatever. Makes sense to use wind energy, but I’m not about to worship these people for adding a sail to their ship.
LOL
Sail boats are how old?
Been there, done that. Remember the clipper ship Lightening? Faster India to New York. Got its best speed in near-hurricane conditions. Was obsoleted by the steamship, as I recall...
I remember back in the 80s when they touted huge spinnakers for ships and those cylinder sails...
cutting diesel consumption by up to 20 per centNotice the chart showing a decrease in fuel consumption from 1200 litres/hr to just over 400. This is a reduction of over 60%. Somebody is just making the stuff up...
Maybe I can interest somebody in my new revolutionary device which I designed to make travel easier.
I call it “The Wheel.”
;-)
Agreed. Nice source of AUXILIARY propulsion, and may well allow you to throttle back and still keep schedule, saving some cash. But don’t bet the house on it. .
Idiots. Why don't they just sail downhill?
I agree Travis. And the loopy media will play it up as the greatest idea in decades.
Why did sailing ships go the way of the horse and buggy to begin with? Because they were unreliable, took too long to get where they were going, and there was something much better out there.
This is silly.
Don’t suggest it. They’ll try. LOL
I suggest they put 10,000 gallons of water in a container on the front of the ship. It will tilt the vessel toward the front and cause it to float in that direction. After a while it will build speed and they’ll get to their desitination for nothing.
I like to see a video of these clowns peeing over the side, taking a dump over the side, or throwing garbage over-board when no one is looking! Remember boys, only 1 square of TP is allowed on a liberal ship!
Whew. I misread your headline the first time I saw it. I was picturing a ship propelled by, well, Jews. Glad to see the word in question is “kite” instead of an ugly, antisemitic slur.
The second time I saw the headline, I thought it said “Kitty-Powered Ship”. Those poor kittens!
I need new glasses...
cousteau actually built one, named alcyone.
i sailed on her several times.
Dude ...
Get new glasses.
(Picturing a bunch of felines wearing yarmulkes and running on treadmills, down in what used to be the engine room ... meow vey!)
Alcyone (Cousteau's Ship)
Wind power was largely replaced for a reason.
Thanks to the tree-hugging left, we are required to go back to old technology. I hate the left.
“Notice the chart showing a decrease in fuel consumption from 1200 litres/hr to just over 400. This is a reduction of over 60%. Somebody is just making the stuff up...”
Or... 60% decrease in fuel consumption is under ideal conditions (open sea, wind more or less at your back) and the 20% is an overall figure. A lot of ship owners would surely appreciate even a 20% reduction in fuel consumption, if the added costs (equipment, staffing, etc) don’t eat up the savings. Doesn’t seem like a completely whackadoodle idea to me, although it may ultimately be found impractical.
it looks like it provides lift also which will reduce the amount of water that needs to be displaced,.
That’s what surfers do. The problem is you have to wait for just the right wave.
Isn’t that called a “Sail?”
LOL, you beat me to it!!!
Now if we can all go back to buffalo carts and canoes, everything would just be swell.
Those things obviously are NOT sails and don’t catch much wind. So what the heck are they and how do they work?
See my post #19...
It’s a bitch in a gale
Magical Wind-Catchers. They catch Unicorn Farts. Don't tell anyone. It's a secret.
What's wrong with that?
WOW THAT MIGHT JUST WORK.
I HAVE A BETTER IDEA.
Why don’t we just get about 50 people, set side by side by two’s and give them all a long piece of wood. If they can put the wood in the water at the same time and pull the water they can propel the boat.
It may work till the skipper wants to go water-skiing...
Hey -- add paddles and you could use it on water.
Split the profits with ya? :^)
What does this Kite-Powered Ship have to do with Hillary?
Brilliant!
I attached these lines to these poles. We can sit in a boat and hang them in the water while drinking beer! I call it "Fishing!"
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