I really want this to be a thing, but my rough calculations given the total cross section area of the sail and the average wind conditions on shipping routes come out to as close to nil as makes any difference for ships these size.
I posted a very rough calculation on the last HN post about this and got downvoted for some reason. I guess everyone else wants this to be a thing so much they are happy to set aside physics through sheer force of will. HN people and the investors / instigators of this project.
This is one time I'm desperately wanting to find out I'm completely wrong.
My last post in a nutshell - these things are order of magnitude the same size as the sail on my own sail boat. Forget about the type of sail. Even if 100% of that wind energy was converted to forward motion it's going to do essentially nothing in the context of a big ship.
I posted a very rough calculation on the last HN post about this and got downvoted for some reason. I guess everyone else wants this to be a thing so much they are happy to set aside physics through sheer force of will. HN people and the investors / instigators of this project.
This is one time I'm desperately wanting to find out I'm completely wrong.
My last post in a nutshell - these things are order of magnitude the same size as the sail on my own sail boat. Forget about the type of sail. Even if 100% of that wind energy was converted to forward motion it's going to do essentially nothing in the context of a big ship.