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this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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Are the kites potentially a next level of efficiency for sail? Not in an overall sense, but as a supplement and in the sense that you can still design boats for maximum hauling.
Gotta wonder how much a kite would add in terms of lowering the fuel usage really though, doesn't seem like it would make much of dent. Nor are the ships designed to take that weird force angle presumably
Ships designs are good for a variety of strains - they're built to get tossed around in storms after all.
Also about the sails comparison - I think the kites are retractable and redeployable, ending up with a variable, lower ship profile.
Water also has super high drag forces - it sounds efficient to counteract the constant water drag using constant air drag instead of constantly burning fuel.
Also the kite in the photo would only be able to pull the ship as fast as the wind speed. The idea behind a proper sail is that you can go faster than the wind speed if it comes at you sideways.
This isn’t accurate. The kite is typically moving in the air, generating drag. This can easily surpass wind speed. You see the same effect in kiteboarding (both water and land varieties.)
Interesting. Thanks for the correction!
The article says 20%. It's even included in the excerpt copied to this thread...