Re:Michelin Puts Puffy Sails on Cargo Ships
by davinci26 on Sunday June 27, 2021 @01:07PM
(#27653245)
I don’t think it’s a good idea.
By adding so much surface area so high up you create a lever for winds to create torque to cape size the vessel.
The way sailing boats circumvent this issue is by having a big long metallic fin at the bottom of the boat(called keel). The keel counteracts the torque of the wind when the boat rotates and brings it back to a steady position.
The problem is that ports have fixed depth so if you modify an existing cargo ship with a keel it will no longer fit into the commercial ports
By adding so much surface area so high up you create a lever for winds to create torque to cape size the vessel.
The way sailing boats circumvent this issue is by having a big long metallic fin at the bottom of the boat(called keel). The keel counteracts the torque of the wind when the boat rotates and brings it back to a steady position.
The problem is that ports have fixed depth so if you modify an existing cargo ship with a keel it will no longer fit into the commercial ports