Wingsail Testing
Yep… why not? I have been told a few times now that wingsails do not work on small yachts especially nor big ones for all sorts of reasons of top end turning effect from the extra mass and instability.
They work well on catamarans and foiling yachts because they are stable and positively overall add to the machines performance for all sorts of good physics reasons.
Following is an attempt by Bill and myself to make sense of the reality of whether wingsails can work on say an RG65?
What we discovered with this first set of trials on “Green Machine” was:
- Wingsails need good design to keep their leach stable towards the top without a huge weight disadvantage. This was achieved with a neat little device I call a “top end ram”.
- Rotation can be a problem with the extra mass.
- They tend to lean one way or the other when going down wind. Top end mass issue again.
- Could not get the boat to go as fast as conventional or swing rigged yachts inspite of combinations of solid and soft leach sails.
- But since these images there has been some breakthroughs in thin, ultra-lightweight shells that are worth experimenting with when I get some spare time.
- A wise man once said: “If one does not try to break the barriers, one will always remain inside the barriers”. We may be “barking up the wrong tree”, but lots of fun trying and the experiments helped with the hull thin section technology.
