# Sails again [ODIN]



## SN NewsCaster (Mar 5, 2007)

modern world’s first 100% fossil fuel free sailing cargo ships

More...


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## Robert Hilton (Feb 13, 2011)

Pretty rigs, but has it been forgotten that square rig vessels need to brace their lower sails (courses) more sharp up to the wind than the topsails? Wind speed near sea level is less than higher up, so the ship's forward motion causes the apparent wind to draw ahead more so at the lower levels. Can these rigs accommodate this?

I was once told that such rigs would be computer controlled, as if this answered everything. Not so. A computer only "knows" what its programmer tells it. I have wanted to put this to someone who knows the answer for some time.


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## frangio (Jan 20, 2012)

SN NewsCaster said:


> modern world’s first 100% fossil fuel free sailing cargo ships
> 
> More...


Link doesn't seem to work!


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## Klaatu83 (Jan 22, 2009)

Very pretty, but the ships shown are small, and couldn't possibly carry very much cargo. You would have to operate an awful lot of these to transport the amount of cargo carried by a single modern power-driven container ship operated by a crew of 20 or less. As most of us in the business are aware, one of the biggest expenses in the shipping industry is the cost of the crew. Thus, it seems to me that whatever the financial savings in fuel the operator achieves, would be more than lost in the vastly increased size of the crews he would have to hire. 

Another aspect not mentioned is how a ship of this sort would be able to accommodate cargo, particularly cargo containers. Those pretty masts and sails would certainly be in the way of shore cranes and, unlike the old-style sailing rigs, they don't seem to have any provision for supporting the ship's own cargo-handling gear. 

Also, assuming they did build a really large version of these ships, how would those lofty masts fit under the bridges that are a feature of so many of the world's ports today? Air draft is already a concern among some of the larger, modern container ships. I have seen cases where the tops of modern container ship's masts struck bridges when they tried to pass underneath when the tide was too high and the ships were too lightly loaded. It would be even more of a problem with these windjammers.


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