wing sail catamaran

Electric boats

Silent yachts, silent yachts launches solar catamaran with kite wing sail and 100 mile daily range from the sun.

Solar boat engineer and designer Silent Yachts has shared new details of the SILENT-60, a 60′ catamaran with 42 solar panels and two electric propelled motors backed by 286 kWh of battery capacity. While Silent Yachts’ solar-powered vessels are all unique, the SILENT-60 will also be fitted with a 9-13 square meter kite wing, generating additional clean power to pull the yacht.

Silent Yachts was founded by Heike and Michael Köhle, who together have sailed over 75,000 nautical miles around the world, and decided there had to be a better way to propel yachts with clean energy.

After beginning research into solar yacht technologies in 2004, Silent Yachts gathered five years of sailing data and constructed its first fully self-sufficient solar-powered catamaran , the Solarwave 46.

After a five-year trial at sea that began in 2010, Silent Yachts had a proven solar yacht concept, and began serial production of luxury sustainable vessels in 2016 with the SILENT-64. By 2018, The SILENT-64 had become the first serial-production solar-powered bluewater catamaran to cross the Atlantic, from Cartagena, Spain to Barbados in 16 days.

In 2020, the company announced a partnership with Volkswagen Group , which will supply all the components and batteries for a new 50-foot yacht. The yacht will be designed with the help of Cupra, and will utilize VW’s MEB Platform.

Earlier this year, Silent Yachts launched the SILENT-60 as a more powerful, revamped generation of the SILENT-64. With the company’s latest announcement, the SILENT-60 catamaran looks to separate itself from other solar yachts by utilizing even more sustainable propulsion techniques.

The SILENT-60 solar yacht specs

In addition to being a yacht completely powered using solar energy, Silent Yachts has now shared an additional kite wing option that can deliver even more clean range to the Silent-60.

According to the press release, the SILENT-60 will be the first vessel to be fitted with a nine or 13 square meter kite wing, although the option will now be available on all Silent Yacht models.

After deploying the compact kite, it drifts away on the surface of the water before pulling taught and launching into the air. When it reaches its optimal flight height, the kite begins to trace a “figure 8” in the sky, generating additional power to pull the solar yacht. Silent Yacht founder Michael Köhler elaborates:

The main advantages of a kite over a conventional sail system are that it does not throw shade on the solar panels, does not need a tall mast, and generates up to 10 times more power per square meter than a traditional sail. In addition to that it saves about 1.5 tons of weight compared to conventional rig and costs much less. It makes even more sense for the SILENT boats that run on renewable solar energy because the power generated by a kite easily exceeds the energy consumption of the system, so you can charge the batteries while cruising under kite power. And besides that, it’s great fun!

When yacht owners want to stop kiting, an automated app controls the kite, moving it to a position right above the boat where it has the least pull on the line. This allows for more easy electric winching down over the foredeck for stowage.

In addition to the wind kite option, the SILENT-60 yacht comes with 42 solar panels, garnering 17 kWp of energy from the sun to power two, 340 kW electric motors. The system is backed by a battery capacity up to 286 kWh.

As a required safety measure, the SILENT-60 is equipped with a generator and 1,000 liters of fuel. However, according to the Silent-Yachts’ owners, they almost never use it because they have enough solar power and electric energy.

According to Silent Yachts, the SILENT-60 can cruise efficiently with zero emissions using solar power only for up to 100 nautical miles a day and can maintain that pace for weeks. The vessel’s cruise speed is six to eight knots, but it can get up to a top speed of 20 knots using the all-electric motors.

The SILENT-60 comes with four guest cabins but can be designed with a custom layout for those willing to pay a bit more. Speaking of which, the SILENT-60 starts at 2.39 million euros ($2.69 million).

The first of these SILENT-60 solar yachts was built in Thailand, but the company plans to build future units in Italy. Furthermore, Silent Yachts has already shared design plans for a SILENT-80 and SILENT-100 Explorer vessel.

More electrified boats are sure to make their maiden voyage soon. In the meantime, check out this launch video detailing the style and luxury of the SILENT-60:

Electrek’s take

The more I see electric propulsion on larger and larger boats, the more excited I get. While this is still such a niche segment in not just maritime transportation, but electrified mobility overall, it really excites me personally.

Many of you (hopefully) saw my previous article where I got to captain a solar-powered yacht called the Ramblin’ Rose, thanks to Sunwater Marine . That experience helped me learn and experience a lot of similar technology that Silent Yachts has implemented on an even larger and more powerful scale with its catamarans.

While it’s safe to say that my current income level might get me on board a SILENT-60 solar yacht as a mere stowaway, those who can afford their own are going to be blessed with luxury and performance with zero emissions. The quicker we stop burning diesel in our Earth’s waters (and anywhere else while we’re at it), the better.

A top speed 20 knots is nearly 23 mph, not bad for two electric motors getting all their energy from the sun. Obviously, that speed is not sustainable for the batteries, but being able to get 100 NMs from the sun each day truly means you can take this yacht out for weeks at a time if you want. Not to mention the unique wing kite that actually pulls the 60-foot yacht, unlike a sailboat that is pushed by the wind. No range anxiety here.

I’d love to get below deck on one of the Silent Yachts and explore the inner workings… while getting a tan in the Mediterranean, perhaps? A kid could dream, right? For now, I’ll simply have to report electric boat news from my squeaky chair, pretending the cars whizzing by outside are calm ocean waves lapping against the yacht’s hull. Is it too early for a mojito?

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Scooter Doll is a writer, designer and tech enthusiast born in Chicago and based on the West Coast. When he’s not offering the latest tech how tos or insights, he’s probably watching Chicago sports. Please send any tips or suggestions, or dog photos to him at [email protected]

Manage push notifications

• Electric Cars
• Electric Bikes
• Electric Boats
• EV Conversions
• Electric Flight
• Electric Transport
• Hydrogen Fuel Cell
• Readers’ Questions

No fossil fuels: First solar electric catamaran with wing sail goes into production

• March 25, 2022
• No comments
• 2 minute read
• Joshua S. Hill

Maltese electric boat manufacturer Zen Yachts has announced the first order for its Zen 50, the world’s first production catamaran yacht equipped with both extensive solar panels and a wingsail.

Zen (short for Zero Emission Nautic) Yachts announced this week that it has sold its first Zen 50 which will immediately enter production and which is the first production yacht to be equipped with a Wingsail.

The OceanWings 32 wingsail was provided by French company Aryo, a spin-off of the yacht design and naval architecture bureau VLPL, which inked a contract with Zen Yachts earlier this month to supply the 32-square-metres wingsail to Zen Yachts.

The OceanWings 32 is an offspring of the Oracle wingsail which was used to defeat the conventionally rigged Alinghi in the 2010 America’s Cup in Valencia.

But the Zen 50 is more than its tall wingsail, boasting a huge solar roof with a 1:1 solar power versus displacement ratio of 16kW and 16-tonnes, making the yacht completely self-sufficient in terms of energy.

The full carbon blue water capable catamaran was designed for Zen Yachts by award-winning naval architect Julien Mélot and is intended to embody genuine zero-emissions, high comfort, and performance.

In addition to renewable power sources, the Zen 50 has also been built to ensure minimal drag, optimising the catamaran’s hydrodynamic performance through an in-depth Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis.

“I know from experience that to achieve complete energy self-sufficiency, a true solar boat needs to have a low energy consumption and a large solar roof area to harvest solar energy,” said Julien Mélot, designer of the Zen 50.

“The ZEN 50 excels in both with her gigantic solar roof and her high-performance lightweight hulls.

“The majority of solar catamarans currently on the market are equipped with a large generator, making them de facto hybrid diesel-solar-electric boats. They offer great speeds in a variety of conditions but are less eco-friendly than true zero-emission vessels.

“We wanted the Zen to be a true solar boat, that’s why the first unit in construction is not equipped with any generator and will not carry a single drop of fossil fuel onboard (indeed even the tender is electric and recharged by the mother vessel).”

With 100% of the vessel’s energy harvested onboard through either its solar or wind, the yacht boasts a number of other amenities, including the ability to be equipped with a dive compressor, e-water scooter, e-foil, electric jet boards, and an electric water maker.

The Zen 50 also comes with Starlink internet, two helm stations at the cockpit and flybridge, and features two large day beds, up to three dining areas for over 10 people, a professional galley and two wet kitchens, five heads, and up to four double-ensuite cabins.

Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

• The magazine

Current issue

• All the issues
• My magazines
• Technical specifications
• Multihull of the Year
• Classified Ads
• Destinations
• Online store
• All the magazines
• Subscriptions
• Accessories

Flexible wing sail for anyone

Philippe Marcovich is not only the director of Sicomin, a major chemical and composite products company… passionate both about sailing and innovation, he has just launched a catamaran of his own design. 

Create a notification for Catamaran

We will keep you posted on new articles on this subject.

Published 02/11/2020

By Emmanuel van Deth

Published: nov. / dec. 2020

Choose the option that suits you best!

Issue #: 174

Published: November / December 2020

• Price per issue - digital : 6.50€ Digital magazine
• Price per issue - print : 8.50€ Print magazine
• Access to Multihulls World digital archives Digital archives

This all-carbon multihull, 33 feet (10 meters) in length and 29’6” (9 meters) in beam - counting its hiking wings - weighs barely a ton. It was built by the Crazy Lobster shipyard and launched at the port of Le Légué, in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany. The particularity of this prototype with its elegant canoe bows is its rig: The ACCWing. This is a flexible 645 sq ft (60 m²) wingsail developed by Hugues de Turckheim. “The boat is not equipped with foils because the aim is to focus on the use of the wing, whose concept can be used by all kinds of sailing boats, yachts and ships,” explains Philippe, “But this wing will of course allow foilers to go even faster and point higher”. The catamaran sailed for the first time on Thursday, October 29th, late in the day (just before the new lockdown was decreed in France) in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc.  “The wind was light but there was enough to appreciate the very high efficiency of the rig,” says the inventor. “Tacking is extremely easy thanks to the lift the wing generates, which remains efficient as close as possible to the wind, something a conventional rig cannot provide.” After a few adjustments and optimization work, the prototype will be heading for an open-water port to be able sail without the constraints of tides and locks. Of course, we’ve already planned a test sail!

Most-read articles in the same category

Tricat 8.50

Lagoon Neo program

Les Occasions du Multicoque et du Refit

Dragonfly Days 2024

Bourgogne Catamaran

Rapido Trimarans

What readers think.

Post a comment

No comments to show.

MW #197 - Oct / Nov 2024

MiniCat 520

LibertyKite & Pinball Boat

Aquila 50 Yacht

Subscribe now.

The latest news from €3 / month

Video of the month

Our latest YouTube hit!

The Multihull of the Year

The 2024 results

Classified ads

TRICAT 30 PERFORMANCE

TRIMARAN FARRIER F9AX

Privilege 515 (2010 - refit 2021) v. 3 cabins

Power catamaran Fountaine Pajot Greenland 34 - fully self-sufficient

Vous avez ajouté " " à vos favoris., vous avez supprimé " " de vos favoris., in order to add this article to your favorites, please sign in..

Log in or Sign up

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser .

Wings on Cruising Catamarans

Discussion in ' Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics ' started by Inquisitor , Sep 18, 2020 .

Inquisitor BIG ENGINES: Silos today... Barn Door tomorrow!

For many years I've been working on various designs for a live-aboard cruising boat... much of it already recorded on this site. I like the mental exercise even if hardships or the next shiny idea has shifted my focus and caused much of it to be sidelined or trashed. I have one recurring theme that I have not really explored publicly. I would like to get some feedback. I would like you to consider a rigid wing sail (think 34th America’s Cup) on a cruising catamaran. It would be free-standing and can freely weather vane (unlike the 34th America’s Cup). Over the years I've seen many designs heading in this direction, but they all seem to over-think the problems by adding complexity like telescoping masts or at least telescoping semi-soft wings. Then I see this and think... I am vindicated. Pros : · According to “ Principles of Yacht Design” the drag of a single 3/8” cable shroud would be about the same as a 12% wing with an 8’ chord! Abbott & von Doenhoff’s, “ Theory of Wing Sections ” and just about any other reference concurs. Consider the drag on a standard mast, furled head-sail and at least four or five shrouds and you have probably less than a tenth of the drag up top with a rigid wing. · I am a little concerned about weight above, but I've read the mast on a Fountaine Pajot Belize 43 weighs 1000 lbs. I’m pretty sure I can beat that with a wing. · Consider that wing shape is nearly theoretically perfect (as least compared to a sail: cloth or 3DL) · Wind coming from aft, the sail would still function as a wing by pointing toward the wind (+AOA). That on certain points of sail the lift and drag both point forward so that both add toward thrust. On certain points of sail, the boat would actually heel towards weather. Wouldn’t that freak out an old salt? · Even in storm conditions, it would have far less drag than bare poles. · The simplicity, especially for the charter industry seems like it would be an asset. No lines, no winches. With some AI the wing could be made to work on all points of sail and conditions. It could even totally de-power by itself when in panic mode long before some fool gets off his bunk. Cons : · Nostalgia. Nothing is more beautiful to me than a J-Class America’s Cup. An old cloth sail is just a site to see. · Trying to assure all the other sailors in the marina that, “No, I don’t need to take down my sail.” Can you think of any other cons? Why hasn't someone like a Foutaine Pajot or Lagoon not made this as an option.  

bajansailor Marine Surveyor

This article also mentions the Saildrone (re your photo of the wingsail trimaran) - WALKER WINGSAILS http://www.change-climate.com/Transport_Land_Sea_Sustainable/Assisted_Ships_Sails_Solar_Projects_Marine_Pollution/Walker_WingSails.htm Here is the Saildrone site - Saildrone: Redefining Ocean Data Collection https://www.saildrone.com/ And an impressive video -  

CT249 Senior Member

I'm no expert, but as I understand it the theory does not match the reality. For example, the hard wing has to weathercock. One smart guy I knew found that even with a wingmast, rather than a full wing, the period between a gust hitting the wing and the wing rotating to weathercock was a major problem, causing the boat to sail around even in the marina. He got rid of the wingmast. Personally, I wonder about the loss of deck space. In real life, marinas and moorings are in areas subject to windshifts. If one cannot walk around within the swing area of the rig without risking it swinging into you, how does one move around on deck freely? Where, for example, is your anchor locker going to be? In most performance cats it's aft, to centralise weight - so how are you going to work on it if any time you straighten up, you may get smashed in the face by a swivelling wingsail? If you lift the bottom edge of the sail 7' above the deck to ease that issue, what is the increase in the height of the rig going to do to stability? I've never sailed with a wingsail but I own a bunch of wingmasts. None of them is as efficient as older theory claims. We've seen that time and time again for a century or so. We've seen it here, with wingsails promoted by people who promised to give us the results of trials - and never did. When that rig (the Omer wingsail) was trialled by a manufacturer, they tossed it because it did not live up to the claims. I still remember reading of sailors like Loic Caradoc and Peter Blake talking about the danger of their wingmasts in gales. Sure, a wingsail may theoretically weathercock - but so can many wingmasts. Blake got scared and Caradoc got dead........ I've used fairly rigid windsurfer rigs for years. They have pocket luffs and stiff battens, so they seem like wingsails in many ways from a layman's point of view. They still go slower dead downwind when "still pointing towards the wind" (if I am understanding you) than when they are either stalled (in light winds) or sailed with normal attached flow at normal sheeting angles. Heeling to weather downwind is something that many people are very familiar with; boats like J/109s, Lasers, Optimists and Finns do it. So do the Int 12s/12 Voetsjoel, the very first International dinghy. So tens of thousands of sailors (as well as windsurfers) are not freaked out by windward heel. Those windsurfer rigs, by the way, can be rigged to be extremely flat, with negative camber and twist high up. I've spent a lot of time hanging onto them sheeted in and when weathercocking, and I'd normally find even a theoretically draggy Laser mast much easier to hold up. The windsurfer rig has fairly low friction to prevent the rig rotating into the weathercock position, so my gut feeling is that the real-world flow may not match theory or that the slightest resistance to rotation is enough to prevent efficient weathercocking. In fact as a layman, the whole concept seems to ignore the fact that weathercocking won't occur until sideforce occurs, and that sideforce can be a major issue.  

CT249 said: ↑ I'm no expert, but as I understand it the theory does not match the reality. For example, the hard wing has to weathercock. One smart guy I knew found that even with a wingmast, rather than a full wing, the period between a gust hitting the wing and the wing rotating to weathercock was a major problem, causing the boat to sail around even in the marina. He got rid of the wingmast. Click to expand...

tspeer Senior Member

There have been several applications of wingsails to cruising craft, with varying degrees of success. Mark Ott did a lot of work on a wingsail that was mounted on a Condor 50 trimaran under the Harbor Wing project. And then there was the Walker Wingsail: Walker's Plansail was designed to be a cruiser and used electronics to control the wingsail. Ott's Harbor Wing was a prototype for development of a fully autonomous craft. It also had an electronic controls system, but was as dependent on the electronics as was Walker's design. The Harbor Wing was also divided into an upper and lower half that rotated independently. This made it possible to null out the heeling moment as well as the lift from the wingsail. One big issue with any wingsail at sea is being able to feather it in high winds. That's why the Harbor Wing was split. An earlier single segment wingsail mounted to a cruising catamaran nearly capsized at the dock in a high wind because wind shear caused a significant heeling moment even when the net lift on the wing was zero. Then there was Couseau's Alcyone with its twin turbosails. The turbosail was basically a wingsail with a very large thickness ratio that used suction to maintain attached flow. It had a fixed forward portion and a trailing edge flap that rotated around it. One of the problems it experienced was fatigue cracking from the inertial moments of the turbosails in a seaway.  

• Advertisement:

PeteK Junior Member

Hello Inquisitor International C Class cats (sometimes known as the Little America's Cup) did a lot of pioneering of wings and wing sails One of the leaders in this area was Quest II and III designed by Lindsay Cunningham. Lindsay and his brother then went on to this: 50 knot out https://www.clubmarine.com.au/exploreboating/articles/24-3-50-knot-out and achieved the holy grail of sail speed 50kts. I doubt that this will solve your challenges for a cruising yacht though, as the "Macquarie Innovation" could only sail on one tack! Fascinating stuff, as are all attempts to push the boundaries of sailboat design Cheers, PeteK  

Looking for AeroRig sail drawings

Fixed wing sail controls and drawings.

Foils...Long cord length V's wide wingspan ?

Load & Bending Moment on a wingsail flap

Question about wingsail foil shape

wiglet wingsail

Wingsail rake and gybe angle question.

Fast Accurate Approximation for Lift Slope of Elliptical Wings

T rudder designs for cruising catamarans.

How many masts are practical in a 20-30' blue water cruising boat?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

• Find A School
• Certifications
• North U Sail Trim
• Inside Sailing with Peter Isler
• Docking Made Easy
• Study Quizzes
• Bite-sized Lessons
• Fun Quizzes
• Sailing Challenge

What’s In A Rig? – Wingsail

By: Pat Reynolds Sailboat Rigs , Sailboats

What’s in a Rig Series # 8 – The Wingsail

Although wingsails or rigid wings have risen to the limelight in the contemporary sailing world with the America’s Cup now employing the technology across the board, they are in no way a brand new concept. A sail, after all, in its purest form is essentially a wing. So, through the decades, many designers, looking for optimum performance, have of course instituted rigid wings (just like that of an airplane). A notable example would be the so called Little America’s Cup, a long-standing catamaran contest based around the pursuit of pure speed.

The efficiency of a hard wing has never been in question. They sail upwind higher and reach faster. Their purity of engineering allows for maximum proficiency. When compared to a solid wing, a soft sail is full of hard to manage variables. The shape, components and accompanying systems are no match for a wingsail. In many ways, a conventional sailboat rig is fighting against itself to do what it’s meant to do. Shrouds and stays are battling to keep everything in place while a sailor adjusts control lines incessantly. It’s not perfect. However, the relative practicality is another issue. A very large unbending non-folding solid structure has its obvious drawbacks. How do you stow this thing when you’re done sailing and how do you reef it if the breeze starts blowing and, for the traditionalists, where’s the romance in a big airplane wing sticking up from the front of the boat?

Before we address those questions, let’s look at how this rig works. Using the America’s Cup boats as great examples, a wingsail itself is usually composed of two parts and the surrounding system is essentially three ingredients.

The sail has a forward and trailing element. The trailing element is like the flaps on an airplane wing and the angle between the two elements is called camber. Increasing the camber (angle) produces power. If the power becomes too much, which it often does, another control system comes into play that deals with “twist”. Twist allows the ability to depower the boat by twisting the wing so wind can spill off.

After camber and twist, the third major aspect of control on these quite simple wing setups is the mainsheet. Like a normal mainsheet, it lets the sail out, but unlike a soft sail, a rigid wing doesn’t power up downwind, which is why soft genoas are often part of the sailplan.

So, without argument wingsails are more efficient engines, but, as we stated, are not nearly as practical as soft sails. Are you sensing the idea of a hybrid coming around the bend? Yes, in fact, world renown cruising boat manufacturer Beneteau has been developing just such an innovation. They have a soft wingsail prototype installed on a production boat that blends the two concepts. It’s made of cloth so it can be broken down like a traditional scale but is, in every other way, a wingsail. It’s an unstayed mast with an airplane style wing that they say behaves very much like its rigid cousin.

So, lets revisit the particular questions we asked earlier and make sure we answered them. How is the wingsail reefed? By adjusting the aforementioned twist control, a wingsai is depowered, thereby reefed. How can this big wing thing be stowed? Well, with this hybrid idea, it’s lazy jacks and sail covers – we know how that works.

The last question is more difficult to answer…where’s the romance? The feeling, sounds and shape that soft sails embody date so far back into our collective history, it’s a bit heartbreaking to think they could possibly be replaced. There’s a certain humanity…a beauty and art involved in harnessing these inherent imperfections. We share this struggle and achievement with those who sailed before us. We have continually developed materials, hardware and better systems to get an edge, and are always happy when we succeed, but a radical refit, should it happen on a grand scale, is sort of jarring and sad.

Alas, this is the quandary of technology and advancement. Change bringth and taketh away. But don’t worry too much about it – in this modern day it seems 18-year old yellow, fading Dacron sails hung about on aging wires are still representing strong!

What's in a Rig Series:

Related Posts:

• Learn To Sail
• Mobile Apps
• Online Courses
• Upcoming Courses
• Sailor Resources
• ASA Log Book
• Bite Sized Lessons
• Knots Made Easy
• Catamaran Challenge
• Sailing Vacations
• Sailing Cruises
• Charter Resources
• International Proficiency Certificate
• Find A Charter
• All Articles
• Sailing Tips
• Sailing Terms
• Destinations
• Environmental
• Initiatives
• Instructor Resources
• Become An Instructor
• Become An ASA School
• Member / Instructor Login
• Affiliate Login

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Eagle Class 53: The foiling cruiser inspired by the America’s Cup

• Matthew Sheahan
• August 6, 2019

Is this the future of sailing? The Eagle Class 53 is a wingmasted cruising catamaran designed to fly on T-foils

Not everything that flies is destined to scorch around an America’s Cup course. The future for sailing hydrofoils is surely about more than just racing. At least, that was the view of one owner who, having witnessed the America’s Cup foiling catamarans, saw a big opportunity.

“I’ve worked as a skipper for yacht owner Donald Sussman for 16 years,” says Tommy Gonzalez. “When he saw the foiling Cup boats he knew that this was what he wanted to have a go at. He is not interested in racing himself, he wanted to go cruising, but cruising on foils. He saw what had been created and believed that this had practical potential. Put simply he said: ‘I want one and I want to be the first.’”

As well as being a professional skipper, Gonzalez is the president of Fast Forward Composites, a Rhode Island-based composite building facility where the Eagle Class 53 was constructed. Understandably, the road to creating such an ambitious cruiser was never going to be straightforward. So the plan was structured around several key elements and stages, starting with an efficient and easily managed wingmast.

The hybrid solid wing and soft sail configuration means the rotating rig can be reefed. The entire solid wing can be rotated through 360° ensuring the rig can always be fully depowered – important for docking and close quarters manoeuvring

Of those two criteria, efficiency is easy to satisfy – wingmasts are by definition more efficient. It is the practicalities of handling them that usually causes problems. Reducing sail in breezy conditions and leaving the wing up at the dock are two of the biggest issues.

The solution on the Eagle Class 53 was to create a composite wingmast where 50% of the area is a solid D-section and the trailing 50% a soft sail that can be raised, lowered and reefed. Interestingly, it is a similar concept to that of the next generation of 75ft foiling monohull Cup boats, currently under development. “The rig is a little lighter than a conventional mast and sail set up, and significantly easier to handle,” explains Gonzalez.

“Because the sail can be raised or lowered we can reef the main, or even just sail with the solid section. The mainsheet loads are around 40% less than a conventional rig and because the sail can turn 360° we can let the wingmast fully rotate, which makes life simple when you’re docking. You just let it feather.

“In addition, because we have a part soft sail, which we have developed with North Sails, we can create twist which allows us to de-power the top of the sail, so we have plenty of control over this wing and the advantages that go with it.”

Article continues below…

Could the wonderfully weird Inflated Wing Sail make sailing easier?

As the mist rose off the water’s surface in the picturesque harbour of Morges on the north bank of Lake…

Baltic 142: The superyacht bringing foiling technology into cruising

The Baltic 142 may not be using the hydrofoils popularised by the America’s Cup, but her 29ft 6in long (9m)…

The next stage was to work towards foiling. To do this the team decided to create a cat that had C-section daggerboards that would help reduce displacement at speed but not lift the boat entirely. Getting used to controlling the power and feeling the behaviour of the boat through various wind ranges and sea states would provide a solid understanding of the boat’s characteristics.

“Once we have got used to the way the boat handles, the next stage will be to fit T-foil rudders which will take us onto the next level,” continues Gonzalez. “With these we will be able to get used to the software system, the instrument displays and the feel and the control of that part of the programme without taking the boat to full flight.

“That will allow us to get her up on her toes like a ballerina and keep her there so we understand what she feels like before she flies. “After that, in the spring next year, we’ll remove the C-foils, put on the T-foil daggerboards with their elevators, and move on to full foiling.”

The wingmast has a solid D-section and trailing soft sail

The proposed T-foil daggerboards will be angled out which makes the overall platform slightly wider, which in turn makes for more stable and efficient foils. And while improving the efficiency of the lifting surfaces, the outward bend in the daggerboards will also help to generate more righting moment, and hence achieve greater stability.

The control system itself will be a form of fly-by-wire system that will allow autonomous flight to ensure that the boat sails within safe operating limits. “If you have some of the gods of sailing aboard you will be able to override the controls to some degree, but under normal circumstances the control system will automatically de-power and lower the boat back into the water when the speed gets to 35 knots,” he explains.

So far the project has gone well. After the boat was launched earlier this year she cruised in the Caribbean during the regatta season before heading north back to Bristol, Rhode Island. “We’ve been very pleased with how well the boat sails and how easy she is to handle,” said Gonzalez.

“When we’re on delivery trips we have just three aboard. Aside from myself, the other two crew are not highly qualified professional sailors and yet we are looking at boat speeds of around 15-18 knots upwind and then 22 knots off the wind.

“We have also been through a squall of 35 knots where we were sailing with just the D-section of the wing mast which was easy to control by feathering the wing. When we get to the foiling stage we anticipate that we will be able to fly in around 10 knots true.”

The Eagle Class 53’s roots lie firmly with the foiling America’s Cup catamarans. Even in displacement mode she’s an exhilarating ride. The goal is to achieve fully foiling performance

It is still early days for a project that Gonzalez describes as being “crawling before walking, before running and ultimately sprinting”, once the hydrofoils are fitted.

Yet during the development process it has become clear that there are others who are interested in the 53-footer, whether it foils or not. So, while the next big goal is to work towards building a 75-80ft long distance cruiser, currently called the 8X, interest in the Eagle Class 53 has been sufficient for the company to tool up for a limited production run.

“We have created carbon tooling for the 53 and are looking to build around seven of them,” said Gonzalez. “For the 8X, we are hoping to build three with the first being available during the winter of 2021-22.”

Gonzalez is a realist when it comes to the future. “As we all know, foiling has been around for a long time in military and public transportation, so we need to set an example to insurance companies and the likes that we are foiling safely and encourage others to follow. But the time has come. This is part of the evolution of our sport.”

Specification

LOA: 16.50m (54ft 2in) LWL: 16.08m (52ft 9in) Beam: 8.50m (27ft 11in) Draught: 0.41m-3.05m (1ft 4in-10ft 0in) Displacement (light ship): 6,000kg (13,228lb) Displacement (max load): 7,540kg (16,623lb)

Soft wing-sails are the next generation of sails 

Why soft wing-sails .

Why do we keep using sails like the old Dutch windmills rather than wings like the modern wind turbines?

Why do we try to make the sails look like wings rather than using the real thing?

Why do we use sails, knowing that wings are more efficient in terms of driving force and upwind pointing?

​ As a fighter pilot and an enthusiastic sailor for long time, I discovered that there are lots of similarities between flying and sailing, such as driving a machine on fluids, no brakes, windage effects on the bow / stern, the propeller walk, etc., However, the most and remarkable similarity is the use of lift force .

Airplanes use lift force, created on the wing due to the air flow around it, in order to hold the airplane up in the air. Sailing boats can use the same lift force, created on the sails as their driving force.

The answer to the questions "why" above was to make Omer Wing-Sail which is a simple structure wing-sail , easy to use, reliable, and good for all cruisers / cruiser racers in any weather condition.

Extensive sailing with the Omer soft wing-sail, strongly convinced me  that wing-sails are the next step in the evolution of sails.

Omer Wing-Sail

Why free-standing mast?

The idea of a mast without wires is foreign to most people. It is hard to fathom how a sailboat mast can stand, all by itself, without something to hold it up. However, those airplanes that long ago got rid of the wires holding the wings on in exchange for a spar, fly very safely. No one really thinks that the wing spar is not strong enough, and that an  airliner wing will fall apart.

Unstayed masts are designed to take the heeling and sailing loads the same way wing spars take the loads of the airplane.

The unstayed mast is held up by two parts - the heel fitting and the deck fitting. It puts no downward compression loads on the hull, which makes for a lighter hull structure as well as saving chain plates,  shrouds, turnbuckles and other fittings.

There are already many boats sailing out there with free standing masts such as the Superyacht "Black Pearl" that has three 64 meter free standing masts and the "Dwinger" with its 63 meters long free standing rotating mast.

In order to be efficient in almost all wind directions, the wing-sail should be able to freely rotate into the wind and maintain it's 0°-10° angle of attack. A free standing rotating mast is the perfect solution.

Omer wing-sail design

​Omer wing-sail is based on a rotating A frame mast, that supports both sides of the wing, having an accurate wing cross section as well as high moment of inertia. 

The wing is made of three different sails: two main sails and one U shape leading edge sail. All three sails are sliding independently up and down the mast. When all three sails are hoisted, we get a wing that one can reef and drop down like any other conventional sail. 

With the same sails area, we get a 10%-15% faster boat while pointing higher. 

Main design differences between America's cup wing and Omer Wing-sail 

Omer Wing-Sail cross section

AC 40 wing and jib cross section

37' Omer Wing Sail Cruiser

37' omer wing sail racing (optional), america's cup ac40, patents granted: .

US 6863008, 7603958, 8281727

EU 1373064, 2404820

NZ 529216, 586805, 593939

AU 2002236181, 2008344923

SA 2010/04809

OMER Wing Sail Ltd. 

23 Hohit St. Ramat Hasharon,

Israel, 47226

Tel: +972-3-5401675  

Mobile: +972-54-4277617

Thanks for submitting!

James Wharram Designs

Search Our Site

The wharram wingsail rig.

"It's a Gaff Sail", they say. "No", I say, "What you and the wind are looking at is a soft Wing Sail."

Whether you see the TIKI sail as an old fashioned gaff sail or a new evolved soft wing sail is a matter of dispute.

What is not in dispute is, that since we developed the TIKI sail in 1981 for the then new TIKI 21 Coastal Trek Catamaran, over 3,000 of this type of craft, including many larger ocean sailing ones, have used developments of the original TIKI 21 sail rig. No new/old sail rig has been used on so many craft or been so widely tested.

Now, a wider public than Wharram catamaran owners is asking about the advantages of this rig.

100 years ago, in Britain, the major sail rig for small yachts was the gaff rig adapted from fishing boats. It had a short luff/leading edge and a long, heavy gaff. For windward work in light winds, one hoisted a gaff topsail (See Fig.1) .

This rig had evolved on fishing boats to pull a heavy beam trawl over the quarter, its best driving qualities being off the wind. It is a rig that requires hard work and skill to get the best out of it, if used on an all round sailrig.

In the 1930s, the new 'Bermudan' sail, with its single halyard, no gaff and no topsail, seemed to the yachtsman of the day, particularly weekend yachtsmen, who did weekend club racing, a definite step forward in an easily handled sail rig, and it did sail closer to the wind by about 5° than well trimmed yacht gaff sails.

After 60 years of 'development', the present day Bermudan sail is no longer the simplified rig of 60 years ago. With its many manufactured fittings it has ended up being an expensive rig. It is poor off the wind, requiring a spinnaker to rectify this deficiency, which is hard to handle shorthanded or in rough seas.

In the mid 1970s, Hanneke Boon, my Dutch partner, and I, attended a series of lectures on the aerodynamics of sails, held at Bristol University, with Britain's leading authority on sail aerodynamics, Tony Marchaj, as prominent speaker.

During the lectures it was stated, that the ideal sail would have a semi-elliptic 'Spitfire Wing' or square tipped 'Messerschmidt wing' profile. It would have easily controlled camber and twist, and most important, no or minimum mast turbulence on the leading edge of the sail. How to achieve this in practice was not part of the lectures.

During the discussion on ideal sail profiles, I suggested that the Pacific crab claw sail and the Dutch high aspect ratio gaff sail were closer in profile to the Spitfire/ Messerschmidt wing shape than the tall, skinny at the head, triangular Bermudan sail.

Tony Marchaj agreed with the suggestion and later tested Pacific crab claw sails in a wind tunnel. He came up with surprising good figures showing their aerodynamic efficiency in relation to the Bermudan rig (first published in 'Practical Boat Owner' in November 1988 and later worldwide).

At the time, as a practical sailor, I could see the handling, i.e. reefing etc., difficulties of the Pacific crab claw sail and therefore did not pursue its development.

In 1981, we were designing a radical trailer/sailer 'Coastal Trek' catamaran, called the TIKI 21 . A short mast, no longer than boat/trailer length, easy to raise, was to be an important aspect of the design. This excluded the use of the Bermudan rig.

The TIKI 21, built in a 'persuaded' (not tortured) ply/ epoxy/glass laminate, with wider hull separation than was then the norm in cruising catamarans and, for quick dismantling/connecting, beams LASHED to the hulls, (a practice previously done only by the ancient Pacific sailors) was a 'way-out' design.

One more 'way-out' idea, was not going to make the project more of a shock to the conventional buyer. So, (remember, my design partner is Dutch) we applied aerodynamic principles as discussed at the Bristol Symposium to the Dutch high aspect ratio short gaff rig, a rig evolved over centuries for fast passenger boats sailing in waterway Holland. (See Fig.1)

The Dutch rig is superb in its standing rigging simplicity, which in itself produces less aerodynamic turbulence than a Bermudan mast carrying an equal sail area with its spreaders and numerous shrouds. (See Fig.2)

The major leap forward we made, was to remove the main turbulence of the strong, large section Dutch mast from the leading edge of the mainsail by wrapping the sail around the mast in a wide luff pocket.

Originally, we expected problems in this concept for, in the late 1970s, Garry Hoyt, an American, designed the 'Freedom' rig with tall, unstayed masts and a double layer Bermudan sail that went right around the mast, giving a leading edge to the mainsail without turbulence from the main mast. He was obviously working from the same aerodynamic principles as we. For some reason, after a few years, 'Freedom' yachts went back to conventional mast tracks and slides. No reason was publicly announced for this change, but there must have been some practical reason for this retrograde step.

In 1981, we argued that a 'Wide Pocket' around the mast would be a workable solution to reduce mast turbulence. So, we approached Jeckells of Wroxham, our long time sailmakers, to loft our first designed sail, when we all ran into an unexpected problem.

Sailmakers now use computer software connected to Laser cutting machines. Any mainsail, which has more than three sides gets the modern sailmaking system confused.

Fortunately, with the Jeckells' family experience (going back into the last century), we were able to get around the rigid 'computer mind', but not without several badly shaped sails.

A good way to 'test sail' a new boat is to sail it in crowded sailing waters, for example, the Falmouth Estuary near our home base, and compare it with other boats. One day, in the late eighties, smugly satisfied with our professionally built TIKI 28 design's performance in comparison to other craft of similar or longer length, we were passed to windward by a 31ft. (9.45m) schooner rigged workboat, designed for fishing and sail training (see photo, TIKI 31 ). The fact that it was also a Wharram design, did not lessen the consternation or pique as it passed, for 'everyone knows' that schooners 'cannot' sail closer to the wind and faster than an equivalent sized single masted boat. Well, this one did.

Once the shock was over, I was inspired. My biggest design problem for 40 years was solved. Two masted rigs have smaller, easier handled sails and lighter gear than single masted rigs. On multihulls they also have, most important, a lower centre of effort than single masted rigs, giving less capsizing force. Yet, as I had found out in my early designing years, the boat with a single masted Bermudan rig invariable passed the boat with two masts, sailing faster and closer to windward.

This catamaran with a two masted Soft Wingsail Rig, that we had developed, had the speed and close winded ability as near as 'dammit is to swearing' to the traditional single masted Bermudan rig!!

It meant, that with two masts, easing mast and rigging stresses and with smaller sails to handle, we could design bigger TIKI's (like the later TIKI 36 and TIKI 38 ).

By the late 1980s, I was getting a little discomforted by my builders sending letters and cards from all the exotic places in the world, saying, how wonderful the sailing life is and asking: "Why are you not out here?" They were right. A good place to review ones ideas on yacht design is out on the ocean.

So, inspired by the sailing canoe 'ships' of the ancient Pacific, we designed and built a 63ft. (19.19m) double canoe/catamaran and used the two masted soft wing sail rig, that we had developed on the TIKI designs.

Since her launching in 1992, we have been sailing this double canoe, the 'SPIRIT OF GAlA', coastal, inter-island and ocean, in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and Pacific.

With hundreds of log observations based on a full navigation instrument range, we can confidently write that, carrying full working rig up to force 5, at 45 ° to the true wind, she will sail at half the apparent wind speed. At any other point of sail, from a beam wind to dead aft, she will sail at 90% the AWS (apparent wind speed) - see 'Nomads of the Wind', Practical Boat Owner, November 1994.

1996 in the Pacific was a bad weather year with heavy squalls and gale force winds, but my co-designer, Hanneke Boon , and her 18 year old apprentice, Freya MacKenzie from Canada, were at all times able to hoist or reef the sails (475sq ft - 44.1m2 each), on all points of the wind without the use of winches. They are good sailing women, but the quality of the rig must take some credit.

Our work on the TIKI sail development has now given us confidence to go forward with the study and development of the Pacific Crab Claw Rig.

• Throat halyard
• Peak halyard
• Traveller controls

Bermudan sail

• Topping lift
• Foot tensioner/outhaul

It seems that one way forward for the modern cruising boat sail rig is not to add more complexity and cost to the sixty year old Bermudan rig, but to add insight and modern materials to the over millenia evolved traditional rigs.

The multihull designer Nigel Irens with his new 'ROMILY' Lug sail design has done it. Junk sail enthusiasts are doing it. We have done it. To be a forward pioneer in these 'new' developments, using traditional sail rigs as a starting point is not necessarily expensive. All it needs is an open mind, common sense and the will to try.

This is how SailGP's NASA-inspired wings make the F50 boats fly

Is it a bird, is it a plane? Nope – it's a boat. But it does have wings...

What is the most recognisable part of the foiling F50 boat, raced by the world’s best athletes in SailGP?

A careful calculation.

More competitive racing

Customisation is key

Fans can explore beneath the surface of SailGP with real-time performance data

Beneath The Surface

Watch on youtube.

Access All Areas

Want to learn more about SailGP?

Meet the denmark sailgp team, find all the latest news, go beneath the surface of sailgp, discover more beneath the surface.

Protecting paradise – Sailing towards a more sustainable future

Like so many coastal communities all over the world, preserving the delicate marine ecosystem and the health of the ocean is of huge priority on the island of Bermuda

Chasing a dream – Risking everything to renovate an abandoned hotel

When builder Bryan Baeumler stumbled upon a decaying and abandoned resort on the tropical island of St. Andros in the Bahamas, he was compelled to quit his cosy life in Canada and transform the ruin into a luxury escape. His top priority when revitalising the dilapidated resort was to renovate in the most sustainable way possible, with true respect for its island location. But how could this be done?

The Beneath The Surface show

We go Beneath The Surface of SailGP's iconic host cities, set a spotlight on great projects and curious mind and catch all the lastest with the Denmark SailGP Team. Join us as we travel the world and explore how innovation and science is helping solve the world's biggest challenges!

Would you let an artist paint the side of your house?

In the city of Taranto in the south of Italy, whether or not to let a street artist loose on the side of your home has now become an avid discussion among locals. The street art project T.R.U.St., Taranto Regeneration Urban Street, aims to transform Taranto into an open-air art museum and bring art to the people – quite literally to the sides of their homes.

ROCKWOOL Group

RC Wing Sail Catamaran

Introduction: RC Wing Sail Catamaran

This is a Wing Sail Catamaran project that I started over 6 years ago after seeing the new AC 45s introduced to the America's Cup races. The model uses PVC sheet, Carbon Fiber tubing and 377 Dupont Mylar to "skin" the wings. The "Cookie Cutter" construction technique allows me to make quick inexspensive changes to the design without having to scrap a model and start over, everything is tweekable. Two Catamaran models are shown here, but I have created a total of four boats during design development, one of which only sailed once,and poorly. But that one sailing taught me alot, and I started another boat the next day. It's not all about finishing one boat, it's about developing a Platform that can evolve as you learn.

Attachments

Wingsail crumples on a foiling 50-foot catamaran during SailGP training

The wingsail of a foiling F50 catamaran being steered by Martine Grael of Brazil suddenly crumpled and crashed to the deck during a SailGP preseason training camp

HAMILTON, Bermuda — The wingsail of a foiling F50 catamaran being steered by Martine Grael of Brazil suddenly crumpled and crashed to the deck on Monday during a SailGP preseason training camp. There were no injuries.

The boat was foiling at about 70 kph (43 mph) when the wing measuring 24 meters (79 feet) failed. Video from the boat appears to show the crew beginning a maneuver. While one crewman ran to the jib, which began flapping, another crewman scrambled to the base of the wing and then back to the starboard cockpit, narrowly avoiding the falling debris. A loud popping sound could be heard.

Grael, a double Olympic gold medalist, was announced last week as the first woman to helm a boat in the global league, which was co-founded by tech billionaire Larry Ellison and five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts of New Zealand. The six-person crew Monday included both new Brazilian team members and experienced SailGP athletes.

The extensive damage will affect the rest of the training camp since there’s just one boat in Bermuda. The next training camp will be before the first regatta of Season 5 in Dubai on Nov. 23-24.

Exactly one year earlier, Team New Zealand’s 29-meter (95-foot) wingsail suddenly shattered and fell into the Mediterranean in a stunning scene just moments after the Kiwis finished racing on the first day of the France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez. The crew escaped injuries but the damage sidelined the boat through the following regatta.

The highly complex wingsails look and function like airliner wings, providing the power that allows the 50-foot catamarans to foil above the waves approaching highway speeds. They can be configured for different strength winds and weigh between 400 and 500 kilograms (between 900 and 1,100 pounds).

SailGP includes the world’s best sailors, including many who have won Olympic medals and the America’s Cup. The $2 million, winner-take-all season championship race is the biggest cash prize in sailing.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports