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Wave Powered Boat to Sail From Hawaii to Japan
CaroKann writes "In the middle of May 2008, Kenichi Horie, an adventurer known for such feats as paddling a pedal powered boat 4,660 miles from Hawaii to Okinawa in 1993, will be sailing a wave powered boat from Honolulu's Hawaii Yacht Club to the Kii Channel in Japan. The boat, a 3-ton catamaran named the Suntory Mermaid II, works by virtue of the fins located at the front of the boat. These fins "generate thrust force by moving up and down like the tails of dolphins and whales and absorbing the energy of the waves." The system can propel the boat no matter which direction the waves come from. Because the wave propulsion system absorbs the energy from the waves, a passenger on the boat will experience a smooth ride. With a top speed of about 5 knots, the journey is expected to take about 2 to 3 months."
I am intrigued by transport using the power of nature. I myself am working on moving a ship by "catching" the wind with a large upright "surface" altough I don't exactly know how I am going to contruct this "surface". I was personally thinking about using a soft fabric and bind it to a pole. I am also testing if multiple surfaces work better than one.
I'll keep you informed if I continue to the next fases of my daring contruction plan.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
Market possibilities? This is the same guy that sailed across the pacific ocean on a boat made from recycled beer kegs.
Isn't it an enormous feat already that somebody comes up with this idea and makes it work?
It might be marketeable in the future... just like almost every innovative technology. Right now it's a feat to marvel at though.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
I can see modified craft like this becoming automated, slow mules for smugglers. Since there is no need for a sail, they can ride low, leaving almost no visible, radar or sonar signature. Just put a generator and some electronics for navigation, and you've got a virtually undetectable smuggle-bot.
Captain's log, seadate 52145.7: There are lots of waves out here. There is also lots of water. The boat keeps going forward.
Captain's log, seadate 52271.2: More waves. Also more water. Still on the boat.
Captain's log, seadate 52361.9: Saw a fish this morning. Most exciting thing all week. It had fins. Also a tail.
SIGSEGV caught, terminating
wait... not that kind of sig.
Nah. I have hands. In fact, I have two hands. There's redundancy for you.
That's not sailing; it's just drifting with style!
Set your phasers on "funky"!
There's some confusion here about how the system works...it's not floats and beams.
The effect that makes it possible is that the vertical motion of water under waves progressively decreases with increasing depth. The vanes are supported by two streamlined struts that stick down several feet below the boat. As the boat rises on the front side of a wave, the bottom of the strut assembly moves up at the same rate as the boat, but the water at that depth is not rising as fast. Therefore, the vanes attached to the struts are being dragged upward relative to the water around them.
The vanes are hinged forward of center, so as they're dragged up they rotate to an upward slant until they hit a stop; then they act as a kind of propeller blade, generating a net forward force. As the boat goes down the backside of the wave, they rotate to a downward slant and again you get a forward force.
I built a model of one of these as a kid...worked remarkably well.
rj
At 3 tons, this boat is very light. A 3 ton boat can be flipped very easily by a rough wave. Coupled with the fact that this is a catamaran, you have a boat that is equally as stable upside down as it is righted. Our boat is 12 tons without food and equipment (we have about 1.5 tons of spare parts and tools alone!) -- 8 tons of this is keel weight. It cannot flip over and stay upside down (unless the keel breaks off).
As for the stmt that says it will absorb the energy of the wave making for a smooth ride: don't believe it. That's like saying your knees can absorb the energy of your uneven surface. If there is more energy than can be absorbed, you will experience a rough time standing up. Same thing applies here. Do you know how much energy is in a wave? Think about the Tsunami on Boxing Day 2005. Think about wave-absorbing power plants. The amplitude of the wave doesn't even matter: it's a combination of amp. and freq. I've been in waves that are 60 feet tall, but they're 500 feet apart. This makes for a smooth, duck-like, enjoyable, infinity view when you crest, and a rather enclosing feel when you trough. :-)
Interesting facts: 5 knots is quite slow, but manageable. A knot is about 1.8 km/hour, so we're talking about 9 km/h which is actually slower than a human can run. Captain Cook sailed around the world at about 2.5 knots. He literally went around at walking speed.
As an aside, you can always tell the difference between the cruiser boat and the bay-sailer simply by the sheer amount of shit attached to every surface. :-) Also, look at the size and number of anchors. If there are two or more anchors: cruiser. If the anchor looks like it should be grounding the USS Enterprise: cruiser.