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Wind-assisted propulsion is the practice of decreasing the fuel consumption of a merchant vessel through the use of sails or some other wind capture device. Sails used to be the primary means of propelling ships, but with the advent of the steam engine and the diesel engine, sails came to be used for recreational sailing only. In recent years ...
According to the Cousteau Society, "when compared to the thrust coefficient of the best sails ever built (Marconi or square types, i.e. ships of the American Cup [sic] or the Japanese wind propulsion system) that of the turbosail is 3.5 to 4 times superior and gives the system a unique advantage for the economical propulsion of ships."
Early ships used stern or side paddle wheels, which gave way to screw propellers. The first commercial success accrued to Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat (often called Clermont) in US in 1807, followed in Europe by the 45-foot (14 m) Comet of 1812. Steam propulsion progressed considerably over the rest of the 19th century.
A 6-foot (1.8 m) tall, 140-foot (43 m) long tear in the hull was temporarily patched by the crew until it could be repaired in South America. [10] In 1986, funding cuts reduced operating funds for icebreakers, ending plans to refit the Westwind. [11] The ship was finally decommissioned on 28 February 1988. [8]
A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or ...
In the engineering of seagoing vessels, naval architecture is concerned with the overall design of the ship and its propulsion through the water, while marine engineering ensures that the ship systems function as per the design. [3] Although they have distinctive disciplines, naval architects and marine engineers often work side-by-side.
(Main article: Marine propulsion) Ships can be propelled by numerous sources of power: human, animal, or wind power (sails, kites, rotors and turbines), water currents, chemical or atomic fuels and stored electricity, pressure, heat or solar power supplying engines and motors.
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the water (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ice or on land over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation.