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New Technology for Sailboats

by Dale Bowen | 5:05 pm October 26th, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Categories: Clean Tech, Efficiency, Transportation, Wind
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Sailboats have been around forever, even when man thought the Earth was flat…So its time to update this Old Technology. My idea is to replace the sails with a Vertical Wind Generator. Not only would you eliminate all the work fooling with the sails, but you would also have a level boat! I would mount the blades up high so you don’t get hit in the head and use the Generator to charge a Battery Bank. The Battery Bank would also serve as the ballast. As for power, I would utilize a DC Motor with an Electronic Drive System. I designed a High Efficient DC Motor for a small Tour Boat Builder years ago and they were very pleased with the smooth, quiet operation. I know some of you are thinking that the boat would have a tendency to steer to one side, so this problem can be corrected with a Side Thruster. Two additional benefits would be, the boat would always be ready to go and the Sea Gulls wouldn’t go near it. If we expand my idea to the Large Tour Boats that cruise the Oceans, just think of the Energy Savings….

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5 Responses to “New Technology for Sailboats”


  1. On October 29th, 2010 at 5:49 pm John Said:

    Converting wind energy into electricity and then converting that electricity into mechanical motion is always going to be less efficient than just moving the boat directly with wind. Since sailboats are displacement vessels they are very efficient up to hull speed. You can’t make them go faster than hull speed so as long as the sails can move them up to hull speed there is no more speed to be gained or any more energy needed. If you don’t like heeling try a catamaran or trimaran.


  2. On October 30th, 2010 at 10:05 am Dale Bowen Said:

    John,

    Thanks for your comments. I agree with you 100% because im familiar with sailing myself. I should have used the word “Boats” instead of “Sailboats” in the title…..poor choice on my part. This is a Hybrid Boat, utilizing Wind Power combined with Electric Power. If your stuck out on the lake without any wind in a sailboat, you have to start the gas or diesel motor to get back to port (if you have a motor). With the Hybrid Boat, you can get back to shore on battery power. No expensive fuel to buy and the wind is FREE!


  3. On October 31st, 2010 at 6:53 pm Robert H. Pike Said:

    Jacques Cousteau thought of this and designed several ships that worked on turbosails nearly 3 decades ago. See this

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbosail


  4. On October 31st, 2010 at 7:31 pm Dale Bowen Said:

    Thanks for the information Robert. I read the article you referenced on the turbosails, very interesting concept to reduce fuel consumpion! The system that I’m proposing would require no fuel, as long as the battery charge is maintained by wind power. Worse case, the batteries could be charged to maximum capacity by electric shore power before heading out.


  5. On April 3rd, 2012 at 7:55 pm E Holohan Said:

    Please see our company website http://www.Magnuss.com
    we have developed Flettner rotors for use in very large bulk carriers and tankers . these mechanical sails can produce as much as 60% of the ships required propulsion.
    The technology was proven in the 1920s when Anton Flettner sailed his ship Bachau across the atlantic to demonstrate the principle. The flettner rotor did not take off at that stage due to the very low cost of oil at that time along with the total disregard for polution. Today however the cost of oil and the legislation regarding CO2 NOX and SOX mean the rotor sail is very viable and is set to become widely adopted in the shipping industry.

    http://www.magnuss.com

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