Crikey! Okay, this has all the ingredients of something I should like. It’s a catamaran (multihull…check!). It uses renewable energy (wind turbine…check!), and it does something interestingly unique (it can go straight upwind). And yet it’s missing something…maybe if it was a proa! Hmmm. Maybe not.

To the skeptical out there, the upwind thing really does work. Various experimenters have been doing it for a long time. I wish I could find the reference the Victorian era naval designer who first built a working version. From what I recall there are some curious challenges to contend with. For one thing there is pretty strong gyroscopic effect to deal with, that can cause some unpleasant motion as the vessel pitches through waves.

I think I’ll leave being on the cutting edge with this technology to others (getting hit with one of those rotor blades can’t be good).

This Most Radical sailing craft utilizes a windmill geared to drive a large 6-bladed underwater propeller. Testing has provided positive results. Unlike a normal sailing craft this vessel makes its’ best time sailing straight into a headwind.

Source: Revelation II Wind turbine powered sailboat
Via: Treehugger