Now that bunker oil (ship’s fuel) has tripled in price, would sail-driven freighters be feasible? I am thinking of ships with perhaps 10 masts (120’ high) with schooner rigged sails-say 60,000 sq. ft. of sail area. Such a ship could sail at perhaps 12 knots, with a good following wind-achievable in the “trade winds” regions of the tropics. Would the economics work out? True, you need a larger crew, but you are using almost no bunker oil. Transit times would be longer-and difficult 9if you are sailing a N-S route).
Has anyone looked into reviving sail-powered ships?
I know that very late in the age of sail (ca 1900), some enormous schooner-rigged ships were built-one was the Thomas B. Lawson-were these ships financially viable? Or would the high cost of labor doom such ships?
Sailing ships weren’t replaced by diesel ships, they were replaced by coal burning steam ships. So if oil becomes too expensive there are plenty of other alternatives before sail. Of course, it’s likely that the coal will first be converted into hydrocarbons (Fischer–Tropsch process - Wikipedia), and so our current oil burning ships will keep working with minimal modification.
I spent a week this past summer learning how to sail a traditionally rigged schooner.
Jesus Christ, what a pain in the ass it used to be to get anything anywhere.
I would’nt bother looking into sail power , its probably easier to go with wind turbine and run the ship on an electrical drive and have a diesel back up for becalmed waters.
Declan
How about nuclear? I’m sure it’s kinda expensive, but does anyone have a guess as to how expensive? Or would it even be allowed for a private company to have that technology?
I don’t suppose galley slaves are any good for deep-ocean voyages?
You might be on to something here BG , all those convicts doing nothing in Jail , we just have to update the concept.
Of course there will be resistance from people who want things done old school.
Declan
20 minutes at best.
And how often?
These guys seem to think it’s feasible.
Sail-driven Ships: Could they be Revived?
Why, are they unconscious?
Try some smelling salts!
Jacques Cousteau’s Turbosail supposedly made his ship 30% more fuel efficent, but didn’t catch on. Still, perhaps with increased fuel prices and use of oceanic shipping, someone will give the technology a second look.
No such article.
That’s because stupid php bulletin boards don’t include the last ) in the URL.
Also:
An interesting aspect of the wind turbine is that the optimal direction would presumably be to the windward. Heading into the wind increases the relative speed of the wind, which makes the turbine turn faster, which speeds up the boat, and so on. At some point a limit must be reached and the boat can go no faster.
On the other hand if you want to go downwind I suppose that’s when you would have to use the motor. Unless the ship can be rigged for both traditional sail and turbine power.
That and if you are heading into the wind, the turbine is creating resistance against which the forward motion of the vessel must move negating the power gained from the turbine.
One of the problems with traditional sailing ships is how much sail you have compared to how much ship. On my schooner there was miles of sail and masts and rigging, and I couldn’t stand up in my cabin, which was mostly under a deck. To get enough cargo space to make much of a difference, you’d have to have a LOT of sail up there.