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The Return of Sail Power: Cargo Ships Are Turning Back to the Wind

193 points · 136 comments · gumby

  1. WalterBright · · focus · HN ↗
    This seems to happen once every 20 years.
    1. sien · · focus · HN ↗
      Yep. They alternate decades with the 'Airships are returning for cargo' groups.
      1. lukeify · · focus · HN ↗
        I'd be down for a future of awesome looking ships and giant zeppelins gracing the sky.
        1. WalterBright · · focus · HN ↗
          I'd love to fly in a Zeppelin, too, but the problem is they are very vulnerable to the weather.
          1. ThrustVectoring · · focus · HN ↗
            AIUI the problem is the economics are pretty unfavorable for smaller-scale prototypes due to square-cube issues (drag and thus fuel costs is proportional to cross-sectional area, lift and thus cargo capacity is proportional to volume). You'd need a very big airship to get a competitive economic niche between sea and traditional air freight, where you're faster and more flexible than sea transport and cheaper than traditional air freight.
            1. Figs · · focus · HN ↗
              Hmm. Couldn't you put solar panels on top for power (and fly above the clouds) + use some sort of sail when wind is available? It might be really slow, but if you can get the systems to be fully autonomous (no people needed to pilot it) and need very little / no fuel... then couldn't it become a rather cheap way to ship things that aren't urgent?
              1. ThrustVectoring · · focus · HN ↗
                Solar panels don't have good enough power to weight ratios and aren't likely to contribute effectively.

                As far as sails go, you need a second medium to act as a keel, otherwise it's impossible to get a net push in any direction other than downwind.

                1. WalterBright · · focus · HN ↗
                  One will quickly discover that when you're moving with the wind, any sail is going to sag empty.
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