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Wind power
- Thread starter Steevee
- Start date
Daydreamer
SAILOR
No personal experience, though I have heard wind generators are not very effective on transpacs since the course is mostly down wind and there won't be enough apparent wind to drive the generator.
tiger beetle
N/M 45 Tiger Beetle
I've sailed to Hawaii with (and without) a wind generator. The unit I have is a the AirX 403, originally with the black blades, now with the blue blades (quieter).
The wind generator is an interesting symbiotic animal; when you're close reaching out the Gate towards the ridge the AirX puts out enormous amounts of power, enough the power everything on board and then some. This is perfect as the autopilot is working as hard as it is ever going to work.
However: once you hit the ridge the output of the generator drops to essentially zero, as now you're in light air, and only getting lighter.
Upshot is you could argue that the wind generator will zero-sum the electrical energy needed to power the boat for the first 500 miles (or however far out the ridge is) but only when you're close reaching. After that you need to come up with something else as the wind generator will only produce small amounts of power once you're running in the trades.
- rob/beetle
The wind generator is an interesting symbiotic animal; when you're close reaching out the Gate towards the ridge the AirX puts out enormous amounts of power, enough the power everything on board and then some. This is perfect as the autopilot is working as hard as it is ever going to work.
However: once you hit the ridge the output of the generator drops to essentially zero, as now you're in light air, and only getting lighter.
Upshot is you could argue that the wind generator will zero-sum the electrical energy needed to power the boat for the first 500 miles (or however far out the ridge is) but only when you're close reaching. After that you need to come up with something else as the wind generator will only produce small amounts of power once you're running in the trades.
- rob/beetle