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Re:Wind-powered ships are making a comeback by infogulch on Sunday October 07, 2018 @07:26PM (#18163175)
I wonder if they have enough rotational inertia to cause gyroscopic effects while they're spinning. I wonder if it could be used to stabilize the ship. Or it causes more issues than it solves you can just stop spinning it, just like you can stop it to stop it acting like a sail.
Re:Wind-powered ships are making a comeback by ansible on Sunday October 07, 2018 @07:53PM (#18163265)
Without running the numbers, just looking at the mass of the sail vs. the mass of the ship, is say the effect is neglible.
Re:Wind-powered ships are making a comeback by marmadukester39 on Sunday October 07, 2018 @08:41PM (#18163410)
I know of a company that makes these as retractable spinning cylinders
Re:Wind-powered ships are making a comeback by JoBrad on Sunday October 07, 2018 @08:57PM (#18163474)
The PDF that @danielvf posted mentions gyroscopic benefits on page 20.