Wing sails are pretty neat. Dave Hubbard made the whole multi-element wing thing happen in C Class catamarans back in the 70s. Check out http://www.cclass.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28 and scroll down for what are arguably the fastest in-shore course racing sailboats ever built. Like Sierran said, they can sail ridiculously close to the wind, because wings don't stall out like a soft sail at extreme angles of attack. I'm a little bit surprised by the hydrofoils, or rather the thought of keeping it flying by itself, and it'll be interesting to see how they control them.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Wing sails are pretty neat. Dave Hubbard made the whole multi-element wing thing happen in C Class catamarans back in the 70s.
Check out http://www.cclass.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28 and scroll down for what are arguably the fastest in-shore course racing sailboats ever built. Like Sierran said, they can sail ridiculously close to the wind, because wings don't stall out like a soft sail at extreme angles of attack. I'm a little bit surprised by the hydrofoils, or rather the thought of keeping it flying by itself, and it'll be interesting to see how they control them.