KITESHIPS, SAILING VESSELS PULLED AND POWERED WITH A KITE Francis

Current windpower technology and future petroleum supply scenarios make it likely that it will become desirable to consider sailing vessels again for the merchant marine. For the wind-powered propulsion it seems possible to use tethered kites, instead of the traditional combination of masts and booms supporting a system of sails. This may be both safer and more cost-effective. We are on boat No 2 in an R&D program aimed at this large scale application, and the present paper represents a progress report. Boat No 1 was used to achieve speed and power, achieving a speed of 33 knots (over 60 km per hour), and sailing speeds at times of twice the wind velocity. Boat No 2 will not be used for speed, but for the development of kite deployment and retrieval techniques, with kites of up to 300 sq ft (28sq m) in surface area. 1