High-Speed Sailing

Vessel Name: Sailien
Vessel Make/Model: Experimental/custom
Recent Blog Posts
28 September 2013

The America’s Cup

I watched, with interest, the videos of the 34th America’s Cup. At last we have fast sailboats engaged in a competition that is fun to watch. The virtual images (such as course boundaries, distance grid lines, separation between boats, etc.) overlaid on the real images really helps to keep the race [...]

31 August 2013

100 Knots for Hydroptere?

The latest news from Hydroptere is that they have plans for a 100 knot sailboat. This was posted on 26 Aug 2013, so look for that date at this address. http://hydroptere.com/en/the-news/last-news/

17 November 2012

Aptly named Sailrocket, blasts off!

While yet to be ratified, Sailrocket posted an average speed over 500 meters of 59 knots. I will not be surprised if they increase their record into the 60 knot range during this record attempt.

02 January 2012

More drag for VSR2?

I want to start by pointing out that the whole VSR2 team has done a stellar job and has demonstrated conclusively that the forces that drive a sailboat can be aligned for roll stability without using ballast and without using any down-force. (Trifoiler achieved roll stability by using down-force, but [...]

18 December 2011

My analysis of Sailrocket

I copied a diagram of VSR2 (wing doesn’t show well) and added in the major force arrows that apply. Be aware that these arrows are not correct in terms of scale (length) and some of their locations are guesses, however I believe I’m correct enough for us to learn something about what VSR2 has been [...]

23 October 2011

60 is within reach, what’s next?

I have been watching Sailrocket’s progress with great interest and there’s no question they have a winner. I fully expect to see them reach 60kt in the near future. Sailrocket has now demonstrated what I first learned with my models and again with my full-sized prototypes, that if you get the forces [...]

Greenbird article

21 June 2009
There's a great article about Greenbird and wind energy at:

http://www.engineerlive.com/Power-Engineer/Renewable_Energy/Record-breaking_wind-powered_car_gives_a_glimpse_of_the_future/21861/

While it's my understanding that most news and media articles are PR placements and this is probably no exception, it does provide us with a greater insight into Greenbird technically.

The first point about the land yacht that caught my attention is that it had a good front suspension system to soak up bumps. If you recall in an earlier post I had been suggesting suspension improvements to the iceboat when I read that the ice was too rough for high speed. I was sure that the land would be rougher than the ice so I guessed that the rubber tires had smoothed the bumps but this was not so, the suspension smoothed the bumps. So why does the iceboat not have a similar suspension?

I just checked Greenbird's website and it states that the tires did soak up the bumps but the rear crossbeam on the iceboat was designed to flex and minimize bumps. There's not enough data to tell exactly how they're set-up, but it is clear they need to improve (or provide) a good suspension for the iceboat.

I also seem to recall Richard saying something about active suspensions being disallowed but it seems to me that a normal spring/shock set-up is passive. There are a few bits and pieces here I can't account for yet. BTW the car that I designed and raced (mentioned in my post of 9 May 09 -- picture on my website) had no springs for the front suspension just air shocks; might be a good solution for the iceboat.

Greenbird's website and the above mentioned article also talk about wind powered cars. This is very misleading and I object. What they mean is they are developing electric powered cars (using a storage battery) and since they (Ecotricity) generate electricity from wind generators, they are advocating wind generated electricity to charge the batteries. This is fine, but let's say so up front. There is so much confusion being generated by misstatements, half truths, and down-right lies that most people (including a lot of technically trained) don't know what is going on.

The truth is most of the energy we are currently using on the planet is solar in origin. Most people think of solar energy as solar-electric or solar heating but it goes a lot farther than that. The winds are solar generated; hydroelectric is solar generated (water is transported upstream by evaporation/rain), even the tides which are primarily lunar powered are also partly solar powered. Plants use solar (photosynthesis) for their energy; they inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, so wood is carbon stored solar energy. Coal and oil are actually condensed solar energy (carbon that the plants stored long ago). Atomic and geothermal, of course, are not solar.

I have long been an advocate of "alternative" energy and I made a short film in 1980 called "No Gas? My Ass!" to show the possibilities. The real problem is that few people understand what is going on in the energy field and we often get the "Greenies" promoting the "Oilies" lies. Yes I've been watching this happen in some areas. If I were to invent a process to generate electricity directly from matter, providing unlimited power, everyone would be mad at me. I'd wipe out oil, coal, atomic, wind, solar, and every other form of generating power. There would be a huge social/economic upheaval, fortunes would be lost... you see the problem.

Bob
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