Gardner,

  That is one beautiful boat, a neat sail design, and a great story.

  I think that sail would work, and would be noticeably more efficient than just about anything else.  I'd celebrate anyone who wants to build one and see how it behaves Southern Ocean.  Or even on the hook in Florida during a hurricane.  I mean that, too.  In theory, it should be fine, and that massive wing should put up less resistance to a big wind than a bare round pole. 

  It just gives me the willies to think about having a big rigid wing in the air that can't be reefed, particularly after reading about Oracle's scare in Valencia when their massive trimaran had to weather a big windstorm on the mooring one night.  They couldn't handle that wing on the dock in winds over 6 knots because it would just take off. 

  Granted, Oracle didn't have a freestanding wing, free to pivot at will, with that neat tail control, but I'd still be biting my nails, wondering if a rogue gust would flip the boat before the wing had time to react. 

  SailDrone also uses a weighted fixed keel to pop back up if it gets knocked down, and I don't think I'd want the weight or the extra draft.

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  But let's dismiss my worries as the fears of a whiner who's hyper-focused on safety.

  In that case, you could point out Planesail, a rigid-wingsailed-trimaran with a biplane wing rotating off a single mast:

    http://www.planesail.com/

  40,000 ocean miles from 1990 to 2004, transatlantic crossings with two hurricanes and winds exceeding 100 knots.

  It's hard to argue with success like that.

  You could even get a sister ship with a newer rig for just $630,000:

    http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2001/Walker-Wingsail-Zephyr-43-2553786#.UwOHSIWM98E

        - Mike

 

I was wondering if anyone had any informed opinions on this rigid wing sail with a tail that is used for the sail drone project: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/02/saildrone/#slide-id-155781

It seems to play along the same simplicity arguments that the harryproas do.

- Gardner