“What differentiates it from other wind solutions,” says Bernatets, “is that the wing is not just pulled by the wind and countered by the ship.” Instead, it flies in figure-of-eight loops, which multiply the pulling effect of the airflow to give what he calls “crazy power.”
“Plus, we fetch the wind 300 meters above the sea surface, where it’s 50% more powerful,” adds Bernatets. The combination “explains why the power is tremendous for a system that is very compact, simple on the bow of the ship, and can be retrofitted on any ship, not just new ships,” he says.
“What differentiates it from other wind solutions,” says Bernatets, “is that the wing is not just pulled by the wind and countered by the ship.” Instead, it flies in figure-of-eight loops, which multiply the pulling effect of the airflow to give what he calls “crazy power.”
That’s an innovation over square-rigged ships, sure, but not so much over fore-and-aft-rigged ones (where the sails act like aerofoils).
A 300m line holding turbulent sail kite would never have the chance getting tangled or snapping and killing someone when it whips back
Yeah there’s similar problems for the ropes that anchors are attached to as well, so they shouldn’t be using those either.
The chain for the anchor can be much heavier as it doesn’t have to be suspended by something flying in the wind when being drawn out. The water also acts as a shock absorber (as do the individual links) if the chain were to break.