wrote:
On Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at 2:47:43 PM UTC-7, Wayne. B wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 13:29:21 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

Wayne, hasn't the "para-sail" convey been around for a while?

I thought I read where a big cat-hull was attempting to cross an ocean
totally under the latest para-sail technology.

===

There's quite a difference between a big catamaran and a full fledged
cargo freighter. It's hard to say if they'll be able to control the
thing. Kite board sailors are constantly maneuvering control strings
to keep the kite stable. Any kite sail on a freighter would have to
be massively large and powerful to be of any use. It would also need
some sort of dynamic control technology that was fast enough and
powerful enough to deal with wind fluctuations.

Trying to take the sail down in a storm could prove to be interesting
also. Racing sailors have a saying about that: "We put the sails up
and god takes them down."

That should get Harry going. :-)

I've always thought a kite sail would be a good piece of equipment on a
RTW cruiser type boat, Whether being dismasted, or disabled. Launched on
a reel off the bow of a boat, Or even as a supplemental piece of equipment for a liferaft.

You could add a helium balloon to hold the sail up. What they do when tuna
kite fishing.