What is a Wingmast?
The rotated airfoil-shaped wing mast makes a smooth transition from mast to sail on the leeward side. This provides cleaner airflow around the mast. The benefit is better attached airflow, thus less drag and more power driving the boat. A standard aluminum, oval mast provides improved performance when rotated.
What is the most comfortable point of sail?
The best point of sail is based on personal preference, but the fastest and most comfortable point of sail is beam reach. The combination of the lateral force from the wind onto the sail and the resisting force from the keel produces the strongest forward moving force on a sailboat.
What is a kicker sailboat?
A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) (often shortened to “vang” or “kicker”) is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail.
What does it mean to heel a boat?
What is heeling? Heeling is the boat “tipping” to one side or the other; it is caused primarily by the force of the wind on the sails; although it can be caused by weight such as crew or excess cargo.
What does a cunningham do on a sailboat?
The cunningham controls the fore and aft position of draft in the mainsail or genoa and works together with the traveler, mainsheet, outhaul and vang to optimize sail shape and increase boatspeed. Cunningham controls lead to the crew to encourage adjustment as wind speed changes.
What is the difference between a cunningham and a boom vang?
A boom downhaul is used on a boom that connects/attaches to a track mounted gooseneck, track is mounted to the mast. 2. A cunningham is used on a gooseneck that is direct attached to a mast (no track to slide up and down on)…
What is a sail wing?
An all-composite rigid wing system, free to rotate 360° around a fixed mast and controlled by a computer. Sailors have been furling and unfurling, and generally wrestling with voluminous sails for millennia. But naval architects and engineers for almost a century have pondered the concept of a simple wing.
Is the inflated wing sail prototype design innovative?
But these advantages are still just fringe benefits of a prototype design that is truly innovative. The Inflated Wing Sail (IWS) is the brainchild of Edouard Kessi and his business partner, Laurent de Kalbermatten. Both have reputations for lateral thinking and have impressive track records in making wild ideas come to life.
Are wings better than sails for sailboats?
Although sailboats powered by wings have proponents and naysayers, Mark Ott, the cofounder, director, executive VP and manager of Harbor Wing Technologies (Seattle, Wash.), contends that wings are clearly superior to conventional — what he calls soft — sails. “In terms of power, a wing is much more efficient than a soft sail,” he says.
What makes Harbor wing wingsail unique?
Building on past wing concepts, Harbor Wing has, with its WingSail, advanced the science significantly, says Ken Childress, the company’s executive VP of business development. “Our unstayed wing is free to rotate 360° around the mast, in any direction.