Arto,
I went to your link to matinbleu today after looking at that
youtube video and pondering the swing-wing again.
As much as I'm a fan of the swing-wing in theory, I have to admit
that most implementations of it look a little too homebuilt for my
tastes, and the video didn't help. I'd have a hard time putting
those lower-aspect junk-looking sails on a sleek proa.
But the matinblue site had these images of their soft wingsails:
http://img.over-blog.com/500x375/3/98/59/86/1-bilan-voyage/lazyjacks.JPG
http://img.over-blog.com/375x500/3/98/59/86/1-bilan-voyage/deux-ailes.JPG
And one of the sail on a new Beneteau:
http://www.voiles-alternatives.com/documents/ailes_souples/aile_beneteau/aile_beneteau1.jpg
Those are some pretty good looking sails.
I haven't had time to try to translate the blog to see if there
are any construction details (I'm pressed for time and my French is
rusty), but they appear to have the same general concept as the
swing-wing, but with flexible battens going to the leech. Of
course, it could be a standard swing-wing that's just cut and tuned
well, but still -- that's not an ugly sail. Those four reefing
lines also look great -- the end result wouldn't be much larger than
a postage stamp.
Do you know anything else about this rig?
That design is so nice that I might even be willing to ignore my
own advice and add a rotating boom in order to skip the multiple
junk sheets. I'm not sure I could go with the rotating masts they
use, but a boom might work, and could conceivably be fixed at sea.
The booms might also make for a more manageable schooner rig as
well.
Thoughts?
- Mike
Low aspect rigs are good downwind. They don't have as good L/D ratio as high aspect and so cannot be as good upwind as high aspect ratio sails.Mike: take a look at matinbleu.over-blog.com to see one good version of the swing rig. The more I think about it the more I like it. Matin Bleu also has two identical sails arranged as schooner and claim to be very happy after sailing around the world with it.Arto