[Abathar]

That makes a lot more sense - Thanks for showing this. I have one question, what happens when the wind dies and this thing goes into the water, how much of a problem is it to get it back aboard as the ship will pass it by?

[MeanWestTexan]

"what happens when the wind dies and this thing goes into the water"

I believe it has helium cells, so it remains lighter than air.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"... what happens when the wind dies and this thing goes into the water,..."

It will be interesting to see how well the prototype the company says they're building will work out in practice. As some others have pointed out, the winds are steadier a few hundred feet up, where the kite would be flown. The rest would be up to the autopilot software. As someone else mentioned, that would not be trivial code.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Here's an update following the test of the prototype kite (now called a "traction kite")

"Earlier this year SkySails trailed a kite on an 800-ton former buoy tender in the Baltic Sea. Using a towing kite of only 80-square-meters the Beufort reached five knots in low winds.

While this doesn't sound very impressive, add to it engine propulsion and Wrage and his team believe that a saving of between ten and 35 percent could be made on fuel costs and in better wind conditions, perhaps even 50 percent."

More at this site:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/10/27/ft.kiteships/