Is This the Future for Zero Carbon Footprint Cruising

[deckofficer]

Fossil fuels= PITA to get, then pay for and pollute
Wind= not good everyday, and replacing sails are costly

And now our German neighbors have combined two pollution free elements with the minimum wetted surface of a cat, sail power at 25 times the power per given square meter of sail, sustainable electric power, well check it out and comment.....................

Solar boats and ships - electric vessels developed in Germany*|*Zero-Emission-Yacht

[hummingway]

I think that the kites are only helpful down wind, but I guess they don't shade the panels. Some freighters use them to reduce fuel consumption.

[St. Elsewhere]

How about the high speed version of it - - -

Hydroptere - world sailing record - 51 knots - YouTube

[delmarrey]

I wonder how much fuel is used in building the so called Zero-Emission-Yacht.
I think the only Zero-Emission-Yachts were built before 1800

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by hummingway

I think that the kites are only helpful down wind, but I guess they don't shade the panels. Some freighters use them to reduce fuel consumption.

I left the industry right before they started using it but my colleagues that are using it report that since you are able to control the deployed kite from the bridge, it doesn't need straight downwind, but can be used up to 50* off the bow. In good conditions they have saved 1500 to 2000 gallons of fuel oil in a 24 hour day.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

I wonder how much fuel is used in building the so called Zero-Emission-Yacht.
I think the only Zero-Emission-Yachts were built before 1800

I beg to differ. The old ships required smelting, refining, general manufacturing, transportation of materials, the maintenance of a large labor force, etc, etc. Given the inefficiencies of the old industrial processes, the carbon footprint may have been worse than we first suspect.


Or I could be completely wrong...

[cat man do]

Interesting concept but I would be interested to see how they propose to launch the towing kite without a mast of some sort

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by St. Elsewhere

How about the high speed version of it - - -

Load carrying ability (lack of) will be a major issue here I think.

[deckofficer]

On commercial vessels they have a telescoping arm on the bow and the deployed kite will produce 2,000Kw of energy. On our size cruisers, I would guess just a scale down, as the picture you produced was photo shopped by the design team.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

On commercial vessels they have a telescoping arm on the bow and the deployed kite will produce 2,000Kw of energy. On our size cruisers, I would guess just a scale down, as the picture you produced was photo shopped by the design team.

My point exactly
They are touting a concept without "actually" having made it work.

I looked into and still wish to use something like it, but cant see how without a mast of somesort to launch.
Cost of that mast, plus kitesail gets well on the way to conventional sailplan which = a sh*tload of diesel miles

[cat man do]

There was this crowd a while back who had done "something"
Kit-Cats... Custom Power or Sailing Multihull Catamarans

Nothing on their site any more and I did contact them for updated pricing a while back, but they said they are not doing them now.

From another site reporting on the kitesail.

Kit-Cats Kite Sail
We've seen many plane kits but a Kit-Cat boat is a catamaran boat that can be built by the buyer (they will also build one for you). Their latest product is called the Kite Sail, a new item that contrives to mix together elements of sailing and power boat cruising. The Kite Sail will pull a power boat through the water and Kit-Cat reports that a the sail recently pulled a 42-foot Africat 420, a boat that weighs 14 tons. They sell an 100-meter sail for $5,600. They sell boats as large as the 62-foot Tristar trimaran which sells for $595,000 complete. Their website has a short clip of the Kite Sail in action.
http://www.luxist.com/2005/08/31/kit-cats-kite-sail/

It seemed in the video that I saw and pics, that they had somehow managed launch without a mast.

Using Way Back Machine "Kit Cat" I found some info from 2003

REVOLUTIONARY NEW OPTION UNDER DEVELOPMENT: The impressive features and capabilities of this boat would keep many owners content with either the power- or trawler- cat configuration (utilizing twin 50 to 225 HP outboard engines). But during the summer of 2003, this extraordinary vessel will pioneer a revolutionary new type of sailing. Leisure sailing with a custom-built, inflatable, steerable sail is scheduled along the beautiful east coast of Florida, utilizing an easy-to-operate inflatable sail engineered with proprietary technologies derived from modern kite-surfing and skydiving. When operated under sail alone, without power, cruise performance is anticipated in the 15 knot range.

Imagine the versatility of sailing under a mastless, fully stowable inflatable sail similar to the sails recently pioneered by youthful kite-surfing enthusiasts. No running rigging. Not even any standing rigging. Nothing to reveal your hidden sailing capabilities.

Hmm, gif no workie, click above wayback machine link for picture.

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by hummingway

I think that the kites are only helpful down wind, but I guess they don't shade the panels. Some freighters use them to reduce fuel consumption.

Could be good for long distance cruising with the right winds and/or as a backup in case one gets demasted enroute.

[cat man do]

Addition to above post.

2005 capture on wayback machine shows more pictures of mastless kitesail and even some video.
They also state that

Tested the 70 Meter sail on the 40' Power-Cat:
Again, we had an 8-10 knot wind, and tested the sail from a "broad reach" to a "reach", and finally in a "run". We achieved 6.8 - 9.2 knots in our testing.
The testing was a lot of fun, and we have found a few things to work on. We need to work on the deployment, and the rigging to ease operation, but it shows potential.

Kite Sail

[hummingway]

I wonder at what point the kite becomes a problem. How much wind can it take? You'd need to be able to dump the wind as you reeled it in so I'm guessing they have trap doors?

[atoll]

i still think my one is better and more friendly....