Hello from SF Bay - Tilt wing

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JoelMcMinn
newcomer
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:13 pm

Hello from SF Bay - Tilt wing

Post by JoelMcMinn »

Came across ayrs as I searched for topics surrounding a tilt wing. I have in mind that the well-established and engineered hang glider industry could engage with sailboats.

My plan is to test the waters so to speak, elevating a hang glider on various mast configurations on a windswept isolated grassland, explore control and stability and get a feel for issues which arise in a variety of winds. Lots of modification at this phase. When I'm comfortable, install on the Nacra 5.7 with minimal hull/crossbar/rudder and daggerboard modification. Try a sail in a light breeze early 2021.
Benicia shoreline is the Carquinez straits, lots of open water & steady breezes very little yachting. Chaseboat will be in attendance.

A lot to be learned in Vestas 1 & 2 evolution, 1997 Aeroskiimmer and others. what about Foiling? too much too soon...

Would love to discover others. I hope demonstrating easy prototyping & some success will enccourage collaborative experimenters worldwide.

My larger goal is to demonstrate the concept is viable for moderately experienced sailors, marina constraints, and to encourage crossfeed of technology between footlaunch flight, kite surfing and recreational sailing.

Joel McMinn

Robert Biegler
Committee Member
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:54 pm

Re: Hello from SF Bay - Tilt wing

Post by Robert Biegler »

The closest I know to what you seem to have in mind is Dingbat. There is a web site, but it hasn't been updated since 2008: https://www.dingbat.com.au/Latest.html

I have been idly thinking about doing something similar with a KiteWing (https://kitewing.com/), which is a hand held 4sqm wing that resembles a hangglider. But I have enough other projects with higher priority that I don't know when, if ever, I'll get round to that.

John Perry
AYRS Chairman
Posts: 104
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2016 6:39 pm

Re: Hello from SF Bay - Tilt wing

Post by John Perry »

Wingfoiling is a new branch of sailing sport that has taken off (literally!) amazingly quickly. I think it was less than two years ago that AYRS member Sav Salvage gave an inspiring talk about it at one of our AYRS meetings in Surrey UK. It was a really new thing then but now I am starting to see wingfoilers out on local waters near where I live and there are dozens of U-Tube videos about how to get started - I am tempted myself, particularly since the kit is so light and compact.

The wings now being used for wingfoiling resemble a small hang glyder but they have inflated spars rather then rigid tubes - this makes them really easy to carry around deflated. The maximum wing area (i.e. sail area) is limited, I think to about 4m2, since the sailors body is the mast so wingspan is limited by the need to keep the lower wing tip above the water. However, as Sav pointed out in his talk, the lower drag of a foiling board compared with a conventional planing windsurf board means that you simple don't need such a large sail area, whereas conventional windsurfers typically use 6 to 10m2 sails wingsurfers on foils only need about half that sail area.

Rather than thinking about technology transfer from hang glyding to sailing, should we be thinking about using inflateable wings on hang glyders? I dont know anything about hang glyding so maybe that is already happening?

dave367
AYRS Vice-President
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:30 am

Re: Hello from SF Bay - Tilt wing

Post by dave367 »

You said,
Would love to discover others. I hope demonstrating easy prototyping & some success will encourage collaborative experimenters worldwide.

Hello Joel. Dave Culp here, of...wait for it... Martinez, CA. For readers not familiar, Bernicia and Martinez are less than 15 miles apart--on either side of the Sacramento River Delta. We're neighbors!

I have been putting kites on sailboats for 40+ years, on and off.
Would love to meet with you and talk about boats, will offer to stand the first beer. :)

Dave Culp
daveculp@gmail.com
925-681-9654

Gerdos
newcomer
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 04, 2020 2:53 pm

Re: Hello from SF Bay - Tilt wing

Post by Gerdos »

JoelMcMinn wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:57 pm
Came across ayrs as I searched for topics surrounding a tilt wing. I have in mind that the well-established and engineered hang glider industry could engage with sailboats.

My plan is to test the waters so to speak, elevating a hang glider on various mast configurations on a windswept isolated grassland, explore control and stability and get a feel for issues which arise in a variety of winds. Lots of modification at this phase. When I'm comfortable, install on the Nacra 5.7 with minimal hull/crossbar/rudder and daggerboard modification. Try a sail in a light breeze early 2021.
Benicia shoreline is the Carquinez straits, lots of open water & steady breezes very little yachting. Chaseboat will be in attendance.

A lot to be learned in Vestas 1 & 2 evolution, 1997 Aeroskiimmer and others. what about Foiling? too much too soon...

Would love to discover others. I hope demonstrating easy prototyping & some success will enccourage collaborative experimenters worldwide.

My larger goal is to demonstrate the concept is viable for moderately experienced sailors, marina constraints, and to encourage crossfeed of technology between footlaunch flight, kite surfing and recreational sailing.

Joel McMinn
Hello Joel! Nice to meet you. I am always glad to meet people who are passionate about such things plus you have an amazing goal. I am new to this place but always loved yachts and sailing, when I was small and we were living in a property in Cannes my father used to have a boat and we were going to sail or fishing almost every weekend. Now I have kids and plan to buy a yacht too this year.

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