The Birds and the Boats

siimat writes: "Wow, a bat-winged sailboat! Richard Dryden has produced "a variable geometry mast and sail that can adapt intelligently to changing wind conditions, and fold away conveniently after use without the need to dismantle. The inspiration has come from the remarkable wings of bats and birds." Too bad you won't be able to buy one until later this year..."

Comments

Re:Nice concept

[Anonymous Coward]

Inventors HAVE been modeling after the natural world for hundreds of years. This is NOT a new concept (unless you are a British patent examiner). The bat-wing will not be a success for the same reason that commercial air liners don't have flapping wings. It is too heavy, too complicated, too weak and requires flexible sailcloth that reduces efficiency and will deteriorate quickly. Designs need to be optimized for available materials. Until we have synthetic bone and skin, look elsewhere for your sails.

-Chris Schaening

Never gonna make it

[Brento]

Sorry, folks, but as a sailor, I've gotta tell you that this bat will never fly. A big, big part of the romance of sailing is the beauty of the sailboats. Spend enough time around sailors, and you'll get to know the various boat designers and be able to recognize their work from afar.

Anything with this hideous-looking contraption on board is going to be shunned at the local yacht club, and that's where the real decisions are made. Whether you agree with the rationale or not, most sailboat buyers are going to live with their purchase for a decade or more, and they want their boat to be a representation of their own personality. Boats are purchased with 30-year loans - think about that for a second. Do you really, really want a boat ahead of its time? Nope, almost everybody wants timeless classics, gorgeous boats with clean lines.

Take a look at any marina, and you'll see what I mean. This is an industry where teak is still preferred over carbon fiber, where people talk about canvas sails, and where tradition dictates that you never change the name of a boat. A lot of people still don't even accept catamarans as real sailboats, let alone contraptions with folding bat-like sails.