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Wingsail design

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:25 am
by AYRSwebadmin
Thinking about wingsails; anyone considering their design should read Fekete and Newman's paper “Analysis and development of a sailboat with self-trimming wing sail”[1] in particular the second order differential equation which allows prediction of its stability. NACA sections are probably not the best for this application. They are aircraft sections and perform poorly at low Reynolds Numbers. A better choice would be Wortmann FX LV-152 K25, or FX 71-L-150/25. However both of these have a flap, which would mean an extra control. The data for these is in Stuttgarter Profilkatalog 1 by Althaus and Wortmann [2]. The symmetrical Eppler sections numbers E474 and E475.
I have started work on articles on reinforcements and sandwich structures, and I think I should write ones on wingsails and hydrofoils. I will send you copies as soon as I can.
Yours sincerely,

Graeme Vanner.

[1] Available at http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/?fu ... EN01-MCG02; also http://ayrs.org/files/Analysis%20and%20 ... 20sail.pdf
[2] See http://www.iag.uni-stuttgart.de/IAG/ins ... fcat2.html

Re: Wingsail design

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 2:26 am
by Sailwing
I have read the article suggested and it clearly confirms almost exactly the work I have been doing recently on this.
I did not have access to this ground-breaking report when I started. But I came to similar conclusions independently.
I have fitted my experimental wingsails to both catamaran and monohulls. They work fine and clearly make the process
of sailing simpler and more user friendly - see http://www.sailwings.net
For those interested, recent iterations of the idea can be seen here: http://www.photoncomposites.com/index.p ... wer-system
Or http://www.saildrone.com - clearly, the idea is catching on at last!

Re: Wingsail design

Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 3:03 am
by Caspar
Have made some notes on my plan to measure and balance wingsail rotational inertia
www.redradish.co.nz/2018/05/06/measurement-methodology

Re: Wingsail design

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 8:09 am
by Caspar
Some of my thoughts on measuring wingsail rotational inertia

http://www.redradish.co.nz/2018/05/06/m ... ology/?i=1

Also am interested in a discussion on the advantages of an electrically driven wingsail as opposed to a self trimming tail.