I'll keep my cloth sails, thank you. good luck with the commercial aspect, I wish you success.

While the ferry uses a lot more fuel per hour, you need to compare apples to apples: passenger miles per gallon. The ferry is more fuel efficient than a Cadillac Escalade if both are carrying a full load.

John Walker did this 25 years ago (Walker Wingsail). People forget. And it appears he did it better than anyone since.

"the crew doesn't even need to know how it works" that's comforting. looks like it's gonna capsize.

I LOVE this concept. I've been dreaming of sail powered container ships for years. I'm glad someone is working on concepts like this! -Chad

Ah, a square wheel. So many geniuses in the modern world.

Sure, you can move a ferry with wind power, but... 1) How fast will it go, will people want to wait longer to get across? 2) What do you do when there's no wind? 3) Controlling power with wing-sails is tougher than they think, this is why traditional sails can be "dropped", big problem if you need to stop in high variable-direction winds. 4) The boat is going to need tremendous sail/wing structures to move the weight that ferries usually move. Lots of problems with using wing sails for commercial purposes, lots. More than these guys have thought through. That is not to say that they are not the future, but they're not the immediate future.

As soon as they said 'save the world', I started writing this and CHECKED OUT!!

love your story, i had to leave sailing, (back surgery) so i am a "dirty diesel " runner now, but wish i could use your wing back in the day very nice hope it works for you, good on ya

Both sides of a 'soft' sail work exactly like an aircraft wing...the wind going into the belly of the sail pushes against the sail while at the same time (except when the wind is from 'behind' the boat), the air going around the opposite side of the sail produces lift in the vertical plane. Both of these forces combine and, with the keel and rudder, drive the boat forward. Additionally, the selection of the particular sails and their geometry, can be quickly altered to affect performance of the boat and comfort of the crew. Rigid sails are for auxillary power only. Ironically, the motor on a sailboat, whether a smoker or electric (ahem), is the aux power while the sails are the main power. If, however, you want to experience a ' rigid ' sail plan then join a qualified and stalwort crew and enjoy some storm sailing!

This technology has been available for decades. Maybe not with all the electronics and automation as now but the basic principle of a fixed but moveable two sided wing has been experimented with since the 60's. The only problem for smaller sailboats or powercraft is that the wings can't be furled in a storm.

The "Walker Wingsail" trimaran sailboat was produced for a few years in the UK, starting in the late 70's or the 80's.

If this was a cost-effective solution, you wouldn't have to get government to force people to use it. Ferry operators are acutely aware of what fuel costs. If sticking a few thousand dollars worth of computer-controlled sail on the boat would really save fuel, owners would be fighting to buy them. Seriously though, one of the good things about cloth sails is that they can be taken down out of the wind altogether when the wind blows too hard. Rigid sail always present the problem of having to be lifted off the boat with a crane and stored in a very large building when they are too much area to present to the wind.

That sail is good for day and bay sailing Out there in high rough seas ... waves coming down on you ... You’re truly in trouble when you need the sails hauled in or reefing to the max/ min

What do you do with the wing when you are caught in a storm or squall, and the wind gusts to dangerous velocities?

Will need a pretty big sail in order to power the ferries to the current performance. What are you supposed to do with your sail if the weather gets too extreme? Dump it over the side? Don't you ever wonder why a sailing ship had many sails to choose from and a large crew to get the sails off if the weather turns bad? What if its calm, it will just cause windage and use more fuel. Why don't you build yourselves a ferry type vessel and demonstrate how your "sail" can power it in all conditions? You might notice that wing sails are fine on in shore racing yachts, but there are not too many upon which are expected to go out in any weather. Good luck.

Big problem, at the speed of most ferries (average 20MPH) the apparent wind will almost always be in the no go zone from ahead (unless the wind is very strong) nulling the usefulness of a sail. Wind would have to be 20MPH or more to even give assistance downwind.

Displacement hulls ar displacement speeds are extremely efficient

When the weather is bad it won't go so well. Ferry will be here for 100 more years.

OMG ... NOTHING NEW ... I saw this approx 20-30 YEARS AGO ... this ship was called PLANESAIL :-D

A point about "twice the efficiency" of a regular sail: I call BS. A sail and a wing work in exactly the same way. They produce lift (thrust in this case). The efficiency can be be measured by the Lift/Drag ratio and the Maximum Lift Coefficient. Their wing has a symmetrical airfoil which is incapable of generating high Clmax - around 1.0-1.2 might be a reasonable expectation. A sail can produce around 1.7. Simple function of camber; their camber is zero. Drag for the wing would be lower, but at the low speeds these operate, a high CL max is more relevant. It's a nice idea, and one that has been around forever, but it has too many disadvantages. There is no way it is twice as efficient, not without elaborate camber changing devices.

So if you're in a harbour docked and a storm comes up, wouldn't your boat being slamming around ? You can't reef or take it down.. it's 600 lbs.

Can't pull it down or reef it at a moments notice it's a death trap for the boat. But.....hey it saves fuel!

"...not meant to replace the motor..." These guys drink the coolaid of the NorCal ninnies.

Great vid!

Vast overstatement of energy savings. The sanctimony is so thick you could cut it with knife.

300 gallons an hour... thats one gallon per person per hour.. escalade one person, thats 4 gallons per person per hour..yall are way beyond insaneeeeeeeeeee

4:17- "Our smug goes up to ELEVEN"

Clever invention! I would really like to see this one become a reality. Obviously the wing works on smaller boats, but i can't help wondering if it would work on a large ferry? A vessel of that size would either require one massive wing or lots of smaller ones. There are some things to consider. One has to regard the hight of the vessel. Will it be able to pass under bridges? What will happen if confronted with a storm if you can't take the wing down? The behaviour of a large ferry will be different with a wing, or rather, wings. The design of ferries may have to be changed for this invention to work, which takes time and cost a lot of money. As good an idea as I think this is, I think it will take a long time before we see wings on ferries.

For this kind of fixed wing sails, how do you stop the boat when the wind is still blowing strongly especially during a hurricane or typhoon situation while the boat is anchored at a specific spot in the ocean?

What happens when you get broadside with a big wave.?

Well with a wing you are screwed in a storm.

Wow so you're going to lawmakers and have them force me to use your technology? Doesn't instil a lot of confidence.

Walker WingSail did that ten years ago.

Wow, didn't know the earth needed saving. Will it blow up or something if we continue on our path? Will it melt? Will it vanish in a black hole or something?

So we are morally deficient by not investing in your product? Nice sales pitch brah

So a really really expensive sail that can't be taken down, cant be fixed if broken, and captures less wind than cloth.

Wing sails have been around for a long time. There are too many flaws in their proposition to make a viable sailing ferry to list. I support investigating green technologies but making silly/stupid claims like these arrogant people have done is very annoying. Keep it real!

Wing sails have been around for decades.. Nothing new about that at all. The C class Cats have been using them since the early days of the "little Americas Cup".. In the late 90s there were even Solar Wing sails on some ferries.

I like the design, the lazy skipper pilot system. I need a ship to put one on now.

A little computer hick up and the cat is upside down, then you're screwed.

Ferries on short routes like this are perfect for battery powered electric propulsion. Charge the battery on both ends while loading and unloading so that it doesn't need an enormously large battery. You immediately get the benefit of no local diesel emissions. Lack of engine noise and vibration makes it more pleasant for passengers. Once it's put into operation, the boat is as green as the grid. Make the grid greener, and the boat automatically gets greener. You could use it in conjunction with one of these sails, but I'm not sure why you'd bother.

Good idea. I have to see and sail it. The Trimaran looks not so peeforming as it would look like with its original rigg.

Pipe dreams. All you do is turn the wing on and off. It has GPS, computer, satellite tracking, and knows where its going. Then... There's a power failure. So you start the diesel engine and go the "dirty diesel route". All that tech manufacturing from mining minerals to production, must use petroleum is some form along the way. Can't get away from it.

How do you furl that thing? What happens when you loose power? What about solar degredation of the foil?

That's a pretty small sail, for weighing 600 pounds! Plus, the smug coming off these guys is toxic. 😱

This is not that new. Jacques Cousteau did a wing sail on a catamaran back in the 1970s.

Lets go back to Galleon Trading or back to using big sails with high mast. Just armed them with hellfire missiles to defend themselves against pirates.

A two-sided, symmetrical "wing" (airfoil) doesn't even make sense. An airfoil operates on the fact that the wing is not symmetrical, you need this asymmetry to produce a difference in pressure on opposing sides of the wing (according to Bernoulli's principle). Without this pressure differential you don't have lift (force). The only way that I can see a symmetrical wing working, is to operate it at such high angles of attack that the wing is constantly on the verge of stalling, effectively making the airflow around the wing asymmetric due to inertia. From my understanding this would also mean the wing is generating maximum drag (non-laminar flow) and would be very inefficient. Effectively, what I'm saying is you aren't "doubling" the power of the airfoil by making it symmetrical - that's ludicrous. Even if what you were saying were true, the force pushing on either side of the wing would be equal to the force pushing on the other side and you would have a net 0 force...

makes product and wants to have laws passed to make it mandatory, great business

800 pounds in that many square feet is "very light"? Do you sell gold at the bazaar?

How safe is the design when very strong winds blow on a normal day, would it make the boat topple down?

So heres the deal, this might work on small sailboats, but you run the risk of moving the center of mass too high upwards, and you can't reef the sail. In a ferry you have different problems. One, ferries are made to be sailed on a schedule based on the time, not the wind. It's difficult to be consistent if you rely on wind as your primary source of power. Two, you run the risk of overpowering your sail and because you cannot heel over in a ferry you could potentially damage your sail/boat. Three, a boat's maximum speed is not dependent by how much forward force you have, it's dependent on your hull, because a boat slides through the water, not glides overtop it. But problems get amplified once you get into large oil tankers. Now, oil tankers are huge, so they will need huge sails. Huge sails means huge masts. Huge masts means lots of internal deck support. You get to the point where the support for the mast is stronger than the support holding the ship together. Here's the problem. Because oil tankers are so long, the wind might be different for the bow and for the stern. Say your going straight downwind. You have full sails out, your stern gets hit by a powerful gust. Suddenly the stern part of the boat drastically overpowers but it can't move forward as there is so much drag in the water and your bow isn't powering up. Quickly the tension builds in the midsection of the ship. At the same moment you get hit by a strong wave and the midsection snaps, spilling oil into the ocean, and your ship sinks. Also, seems a little ironic that the invention designed to reduce CO2 emissions will be used on a ship hauling oil.

I wonder whether it wouldn't be better to have a windmill on the ferry charging batteries for an electric drive. The advantage would be that the windmill can run 24 hours a day and works even when the ferry is docked.

The best video ....the best I love it

I'm voting for thorium electric hybrids

Only an American and only from San Francisco could act like he has invented something new when this technology existed for decades...

Anyone knows the name of the opening song? My god, these soundtracks from The Verge videos are awesome.

Excellent!

So....you've invented.... a sail?

"We've got such a great idea, we're lobbying politicians to force people to buy it."

I have a better idea - a Nuclear ferry!

It would be more persuasive if these guys knew their subject well enough to know that ferries have engines, not motors, or that the Vanderbilt fortune started with sail ferries but without government mandate.

Allessandro well said buddy, make it great and people will want to use it

Seeing as how it lifted the boat while Saling in very moderate conditions my concern is, what about a real storm crossing the Atlantic with squalls of 40n heating without warning, it will flip you I should think?

This is the Californian equivalent of African home made flying machines.

I think I'm going to experiment with this concept and use one of my old inflatable beds, modify it, and try to use it as a inflatable wing sail on my canoe. Lol....Seriously! Then when you are ready to dock overnight, just deflate or take it down and sleep on it.

The fossil promoting the foil is insufferably self-righteous

The boat seemed rather slow. If the intention is to move a ship through water with wind force, what's wrong with using a traditional sailship? Run a small diesel (or even electric / photovoltaic) to power the winches etc and you can sail a 100 ft sailship wit 2 persons....

A ferry holds hundreds of people. There is no way that any form of public transit is less efficient than a private automobile.

i think the video should explain some more, wut i get now is that we can replace a tradition sail with one that looks like and airplanes' wing and it is efficient, but how efficient is it , how is it innovative , how does it works

So what happens when the software glitches or an electrical component dies at sea? If you think about it, sailing hasn't really changed much since the beginning. There's a reason for that. It's like the wheel, it just works.

I assume this works as a stand alone sailboat, if one wishes? Right?

Love the concept let's take it one step further and skin the sail with flexible solar panels, and also have electric drives.

What happens if a squall flips the boat 180 deg. - so that the mast/sail is pointing straight down?

Sometimes there's no wind!🌬What is a faster wind system is a kite! And WAY MORE POWERFUL! If it's windy🤷‍♂️

My Simi truck used to have sails untill it hit a overpass.

There was only one true innovator with wingsails, John Walker from Walker Wingsails. The rest are cheap knockoffs. I plan to build a trimaran by his example in a few years, with current technology it will rock. (i build and repair ships for a living and have engineering degree and relevant experience in electrical, electronical and hydraulics so this will be my retirement project)

As a former californian, these guys are blinded by their own arrogance. Dirty diesel? Ignorance is not an acceptable option to intelligence.

Inflatable sails could be taken down when in a storm ☔️ vertical wind generators could be effective in making power to store temporarily in batteries in conjunction with direct drive through hydraulic systems. Submarine batteries hold lots of power 💥.

how do you take it down in a storm

what do you do when you need to dump sail power to enter a marina and dock?

So, when will we see this on a real boat for testing ?

Rigid wing sails have been around for a while (America's Cup boats use them) to yeah, we *have* seen a sail like this. But that doesn't stop it from being a great idea.

Perhaps if it were made as a semi-ridgid inflatable, with separate sections on the same mast, it could resolve some of the storm/furling concerns.

Ever heard of Walker wing sail multis? Nothing new here, been tried before, don't see many of them out there, good luck in a gale with 60 70 knot winds, 600 hundred pounds up there?

This wing design is not actually new idea there were many wing designs previously developed but in the high winds it is too dangerous hazard.

"Thems Wind Powered Boats are a Fad they will never catch on"

Excellent...

The fairy keeps up with the flow of the bridge? Didn't i see you in that booth at the fair?

If wing's motor or sensors fail, during a storm, watch out.

Very nice sail thanks

It's got a serious problem if it can't be folded away.

Greenyhouse gas? lol!

Nice to know you have your ideology firmly placed as your #1 priority, and objectivity cast off as refuse. Way to go, fully unplugging from reality.

How come driving a car more efficient than a ferry? A boat transports over 100 poeple, water offers less friction, more durable, no traffic jam, and i go on and on..

There is a technique used by folks who think just a wee bit "out of the Box;" it's called "ESP." (Stands for Expanded System Parameters -- Imagine about 20 of these on the top surface of a catamaran ferry -- the "system" senses a big gust of wind, and some of the sails automatically "feather." {It has been a long, Long time since the steamship "nudged" the Rag man aside, . . . could be this is the very Beginning, of a new age of sail.}) Probably not, though. Not so long as "The Orange One" can keep a tight Grip, on the reins of Power inside the Beltway.

Looks like an island packet 36. Hard boat to find

I would love to have seen a mock-up of a proposed sail-enhanced ferry or container ship design, with some modeling data. Have any of the ferry-making designers weighed-in on the idea of this augmentation? Love the concept (Yes, that is a conventional sail in my logo image, stolen with pride from an image of Onne van der Wal of Newport/Jamestown - Thanks Onne!)

The concept is great, but there are other designs from Europe and Asia that have been in development for quite some time and are suitable for real sailing conditions. The bigger issue is the cost and getting sailboat owners to buy in.