Last year, we posted about French tire manufacturer Michelin’s Wing Sail Mobility (WISAMO) project design that features an automated, telescopic, inflatable wing sail system, which is expected to reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%.
The project is taking a major step forward as Michelin and its partners are joining with Compagnie Maritime Nantaise to install a 100 sqm inflatable wing prototype on CMN’s 8,600 DWT ro/ro MN Pelican.
The project WISAMO rig is being installed on the ro/ro, which was built in 1999, and is currently docked in Spain’s El Astillero Port.
Currently, there are twenty-one large commercial ships equipped with wind propulsion systems. Twenty-five large commercial vessels, with a combined displacement of 1.2 million dwt, will have wind propulsion systems installed by the end of this year, according to estimates from the International Windship Association.
100 years of progress in dreaming up and then creating effectors, microcontrollers & software control laws, material engineering, aerodynamics of sailing made visible as a package!
I’m still wondering about keels. Every degree of being able to beat to the wind will result some percentage gain of wind advantage. Never straight upwind of course, but presumably there’ll be some point where economics at least for “slow cargo” work out to exploit sail to the max despite less favorable VMG.
Retractable?