e-sailpilot86

http://www.geocities.com/wingsails/

I'm sure there must be a way to make them look more elegant, like this one:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCAoJrKsiw4[/youtube]

Seeing how it has the similar construction of a flying model like I am used to, and the fact I am no longer flying models as much as I used to... make these a little tempting for me to try at some point. I now have a sailboat (Victoria), I'll be working on a wooden one with my father soon (not a wing sail).

I like the fact the wing sails just need to be trimmed like an aileron in the video, or like a sidways elevatator in the first link, and the sail just freewheels automatically into it's natural position.

Anyone tried these?

surfdabbler

Haven't tried one, but they look cool. My feeling is they would work better on low-drag boats (like a cat), where the high-aspect shaped wing can operate at a higher apparent wind speed, and provide less lift than a normal sail (from a smaller area sail), but much more significantly less drag, giving better overall performance on a low-drag hull. It would also be more important to keep the sail upright, which is probably more the case why you don't see them on monohulls. Even better would be a foil-cat. The speed record land-yachts use wing-sails to good advantage.

Footman

So whats the best way to go about making one ~ I'm thinking for my Footy
Rgds
AndyT

surfdabbler

Check out this thread....

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=982028

Footman

thanks for that ~ bloomineck thats big
Rgds
AndyT