12-19-2007, 11:06 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Batman Junior
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Video: Skysails demonstrates supplementary kite power on diesel merchant ship
Anyone else been following the news about this technology?
From ABG:
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The Skysail, a giant kite used to help propel ships, has made its debut[...]. MV Beluga Skysail is the world's first cargo ship to use the Skysail and the ship will make its maiden voyage in early 2008 from Germany to Venezuela. The Skysail is 400 feet long and the kite can rise 100 yards into the sky, controlled by a computer system. [It can save] 20 percent in fuel (about $1,600 a day).
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There's a Reuter's news clip at ABG that I can't embed here.
Also a Youtube vid available:
Who woulda thunk it - sails on a cargo ship! 
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12-19-2007, 11:09 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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Batman Junior
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12-19-2007, 11:18 AM
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#3 (permalink)
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Batman Junior
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Hmmm?
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12-19-2007, 12:34 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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ECO-Evolution
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I saw something about this on TV. It's really pretty complicated and they have lots of computers to figure out the best way to sail. It's also no good for ships traveling over 16 kts. Any body know the speed of a tanker?
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09-02-2008, 09:59 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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Sequential
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the sail car has been done before - pre road
Nebraska Ship Sails On A Sea Of Grass
ecomodders of the past 
the article in the link (written 100+ years ago) is a pretty funny too
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09-03-2008, 01:31 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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09-03-2008, 06:59 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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Sequential
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Yay baby!
I can see it now
screaming thru traffic in one of these 
still cool to move 108 mph with just wind 
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09-03-2008, 11:49 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Cooler still: your eyes are very close to the ground, so it seems even faster. Though my personal experience is with the sailboard- sail-on-a-kart type at around 30 mph, it's still an odd feeling. Because the dry lakes are flat & basically featureless, you can feel like "hey, I'm going like a bat outa hell" and "I'm stuck here like a bug on a plate" at the same time.
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09-04-2008, 11:48 AM
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#10 (permalink)
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EcoModding Apprentice
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Combine this with that guy who built the wave powered boat and the shipping industry would be revolutionized. The wave power got him 4-5 knots and this thing goes up to 16 knots, might be able to get 10 knots out of a vessel completely for free.
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