Comments on: Cargo Ship Propelled by… A Kite?

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:34:50 +0000

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By: anon

anon — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:55:50 +0000

ok, clearly this system is only useful in mostly tailwinds, I imagine it wouldn’t take much sidevector to negate the forward pull advantage by having to steer hard to stay on course.

There would be some control measures on the kite, although limited to some fairly minor steer and lift adjustments.

Depending on the size of the kite, if it’s capable of pulling hard enought to require a steel cable, then the weight of the steel is negligible to the benefit you’re getting.

The ship’s forward movement would not benefit an electric drive turbine system, efficiency losses would mean it’s being slowed down more than it’s getting pushed, including from side wind load. You don’t get energy for free; if you’re being blown off course, you need to steer back, slowing you down. if that effect is strong enough, you’re better off pulling in your sails and steaming onward conventionally.

Sails are not simple to operate, it is an art form to properly use sails to a good efficiency. Remember the puny sailships and their vast crews, limited cargo, and laborious loading and unloading. Sails are complicated, labour heavy and get in the way. There are certainly wonderful hybrid possibilities from compact, retractable wind and solar power systems on ships, but they will not compare to the efficiency of a liquid combustible power source. Now, algae based biofuel would be a key part of a manageable solution.

By: Terri

Terri — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:54:40 +0000

Seems like they are reinventing the wheel. Why not have sails to augment the engines? A kite seems too hard to control, but sails have been working for thousands of years.

By: Henchbot

Henchbot — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:52:19 +0000

epic.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:21:09 +0000

What sort of cable is used to hold/control the kite? A steel cable will be strong enough but may be too heavy for normal wind use. Is it steerable? Does the ship need to ‘tack’ into the wind? If so does the kite fall whilst tacking?

Are there control surfaces on the wing?

Just a few of the questions that need answering…

By: mark

mark — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:57:03 +0000

very cool,I think I will try something with a skatebourrd

By: Oscar

Oscar — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:48:46 +0000

this shows us that small things can make the Difference
which now can save us millions of dollars keep it up!!

By: Roland

Roland — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:30:24 +0000

I don’t know…Those Illustrations look Photoshop’d.

The whole sail thing is a bit odd for me. Perhaps a giant pinwheel attached to a mast sending power to electric engines to assist propulsion would be more reasonable than kite power. The Ships forward movement would help that one. Collapsible or retractable.

By: shran

shran — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:26:34 +0000

Wind can be used in many applications and as Kite-buggier I know it can generate ___LOTS___ of power.

As long as there is wind it’s not difficult to pull a ship like this or even much larger ships. At low wind speed one can use a big kite to “harvest” the energy, at high wind speed a littler kite should be used.

One can also pull cars with kites (a buggy is some sort of car…), but roads aren’t designed to sail on. The kites are more or less used as a sail and Kite-boats/cars behave as such.
In order to sail one needs quite some space in all directions. There’s too little space on the left and right side of a road. A desert or large beach would be more suitable.

B.T.W. If you really want to see something spectacular, search for “Ice sailing” on You-tube, these vehicles reach speeds up to 160 MPH.

By: Gabriel Gadfly

Gabriel Gadfly — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:19:37 +0000

I love this idea. It’s taking an old idea (the sail boat) and upgrading it with modern technology.