Wind Turbine Boat

Just wanted to post this video of a new form of boat propulsion system I have been working on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6b34ANyN2E

 

Any other info on the design?

 

Wind spins the turbine creating the Magnus effect. Makes sailing as easy as driving a motor boat.

 

So how big of a motor is spinning the Magnus rotor and what is its source of energy?
This is the typical major issue with this type of propulsion.

The next is how fast does the boat go compared to the wind speed.

Please supply a picture of the "rotor" when it is stationary.

 

Hello Phil sweet and up churchurm,

Thank you for your interest in the turbine boat. I have been working on this project for a long time trying all kinds of stuff and working with the patent process. Anything worth while takes time and energy = money. You got to pay to play. The more time and money you have, the better it will work and look as long as you are working with proven concepts and now have something to show for all my work and working proof it works.

The boat in the video was built on a shoe string budget to make sure it actually works. What I found is the better quality the components are, the more efficient and better the boat works. So I am now at the point to find interested investers to build a larger and even more efficient boat. I am getting a lot of interest and everyone drops everything they are doing to check it out and ask all kinds of questions. But no one so far wants to step up to the plate and help with some financial funding that is needed.

There seems to be a demand for this type of boat. I am happy to say I actually get more interest from people with large motor boats due to its ease of use and controllability. I call it the missing link since it draws interest from both the sailboat and motorboat groups. So I feel it has a 'green' future. I like to windsurf, kite board and sail but do not care for all the rigging and fussing about but like motor boats for the fact I can jump in and go. Now I have a simple sailing system that I can jump in and go and avoid the dangers of having to run about the deck rigging and trimming sails.

I bought the hull and never used the original sail. Once I got the turbine working one nice day I decided to try the boat with the original sailing system. What a pain in the ***! I had to constantly be on top of what I was doing and actually capsized several times. That was the moment I knew I was really on to something. Not once did I ever capsize with the turbine and was able to relax and have a drink underway. I now have a boat I jump on and go but still get that sailing experience and not leave a carbon footprint.

It is hard to answer questions since like any boat the higher quality the components, the better the performance. You get what you pay for. I would like to move forward and build a bigger and better boat but can not do it alone so I am seeking someone who wants to help build and maintain a very cool boat. What I have now I can put on the top of my car and go anywhere. What I want is to have a boat big enough to have a party on docked at a nice slip. All it takes is some money. I go to Florida often and see these huge boats that burn tons of gas that the owners deep seeded primary interest is to attract attention. Yes, they might say they are going fishing and or entertaining clients but the bottom line is what many want most is when they come in to port, they want everyone to drop what they are doing and say wow. This boat does that very well for both the sail and motor minded.

It is very difficult to answer your questions since there are so many options depending on how much one wants to spend. The boat I have in the video took many years to develop and was limited to a small budget. I built it to prove the concept and hopefully be invited to a few boat shows and find someone who can help me build a bigger boat. I built many small r/c models and found it to be the perfect platform for unmanned craft capable of spending very long periods at sea. Also a perfect thing for university study and best for someone who wants to just enjoy boating without harming the environment.

I hope this is answering your questions as we go since that is what this forum is about and we will all hopefully learn more as this thread blooms. I am not that familiar with the use of this forum so I may have not posted at the best location so please let me know if anyone knows of a better'location. To answer the above questions what I now know is the boat can be made to any size. So the size of the electric motor, shape and size of the turbine, type and amount of energy storage all depend on the intended use, desired performance, and amount of money available. I am at the point now that all it takes is money.

The boat I have had a 48 and smaller 30 square foot sail. The day I tried the sails was about 5 to 15mph. The 48 was way too much for me to handle and the 30 was still a hand full. The boat does go down wind faster with the traditional sails. The foil shape turbine uses a 12 volt system and is about 16 square feet. The boat goes better into the wind with the turbine and does not want to tip over on a cross wind. I made a crude turbine on a budget and go about 4 knots in a10 mph wind solely on wind alone. Performance can be increased drastically using better materials and more percice manufacturing. The day I was able to get my buddy to shoot the video it was not very windy about 5 mph so the boat is moving slow and at a minimum working range. The system is self charging and that is more difficult to do the smaller the boat. So going bigger will be easier.

Believe me, this was no weekend project. I have spent about 15 years working on this project testing all kinds of stuff learning new things along the way. I have over 20 years designing windsurfing and kite boarding equipment that helped a lot when it comes to learning wind and thinking out of the box. I am a build it and test it type of guy not a draw it and dream it numbers type although it would me nice to have someone like that to come on board so I can have better numbers to answer questions. For now I built the thing, it works, so feel free to come by and check it out.

Hope this all helps and let me know if you need more info and want to get involved.