Seems to me they could come up with a steam and sail vessel. If the economics make sense for one sail, it would make sense for more than one.
Not to gloat, but I was a Merchant Marine Officer. I rose to 2nd Mate of Steam and Moter Vessels, Oceans. (That means the navigator).
Not that this gives me any expertise in sailing ships. My Dad actually did two years before the mast at the Pennsylvania Nautical School in the early 30's. They used a sailing ship and received a Third Mates license in 2 years.
Yep, I'm in the biz, m'self... have you noticed how SMALL that ship in the picture is? I'm pretty sure that shot was on an endurance motoryacht, being used for scale-model sized testing. My own ship loses about 1/10 of a knot for every 15 knots of headwind, and we have a house with a massive sail area, far greater than any parachute sail. 30 knots of tailwind don't really speed us up even when we're in ballast. What was your experience?
Every Merchant Marine academy in the world has had some kid do a feasibility study of sail and sail-assist as a cost containment measure... pretty much every year, one kid does the study... and it's never feasible.
Think they've considered what ABS or the the P&I club will say about the liabilities imposed by labor-intensive supplemental sails?
Yep, I'm in the biz, m'self... have you noticed how SMALL that ship in the picture is? I'm pretty sure that shot was on an endurance motoryacht, being used for scale-model sized testing. My own ship loses about 1/10 of a knot for every 15 knots of headwind, and we have a house with a massive sail area, far greater than any parachute sail. 30 knots of tailwind don't really speed us up even when we're in ballast. What was your experience?
Every Merchant Marine academy in the world has had some kid do a feasibility study of sail and sail-assist as a cost containment measure... pretty much every year, one kid does the study... and it's never feasible.
Think they've considered what ABS or the the P&I club will say about the liabilities imposed by labor-intensive supplemental sails?