| What surprised them was that they would not feather naturally if left free and I can assure you the bearings on Ozone were as frictionless as the best roller bearings could achieve.

Do you happen to know, or are able to hazard a guess as to how the center of mass is distributed on the Ozone's wing mast? Is the removed 3m still available?

| The problem with any new idea is that it can take years of development to get something to work as intended. I have provided a single observation why a rigid wing sail is not commonly used on sailing boats and why boats are different to aeroplanes.

I misunderstood. I thought you had suggested how it was impossible for solid wings to work. And, it was more than one observation. You have put real thought into observed problems with a rigid wing. You have suggested a system, as understand it, of how a solid wind cannot work. Or, at least, that's how I read it.

| There are likely 10 more good reasons that the developers of these wings are trying to sort through.

I imagine so, at least. Although I also imagine at some point someone will design a simple one, that works ok, is cheap, and will draw irrational hatred for daring to show how well the wing works. Now, play along... Where do you figure this person is from?

| You have dismissed the fact that a soft sail can be reduced to zero area leaving only the windage of the mast and standing rigging while a rigid wing has to stay upright in the strongest gale.

That does not seem fair. I would say I engaged the idea. I responded to it. I thought about it and shared it. Much like you did. Dismissed does not seem the right word.

| The wing could have huge variations in wind velocity over its span creating unintended bending stresses. The forces could be an order of magnitude above what is required to carry a soft sail at the limit of the rig design.

Perhaps. The rigid wing can't easily hide, a soft wing can. Unless you drop it. Which, you can do. I think.

| There is also a good deal of misunderstanding about the differences between a wing and soft sail. Most of what is stated on this link is tripe:
| https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/sailing-the-sea-with-composite-wings
|<https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/sailing-the-sea-with-composite-wings>
|
|The current developments in performance boats like A-class cats and the high performance cat on the linked video demonstrate the ability to get high aspect sails to hold their shape:
|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To2yjKkozZM
|<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To2yjKkozZM>
| This video gives a good idea how well sails can perform. It also gives an indication of the time it takes to get from concept to something that performs near expectations:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP_9rFbvY_Q <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP_9rFbvY_Q>
| Few people have the luxury to dedicate their life to a single idea.

Lets take a moment to note we are on the harryproa chat group. Ok, moment over.

Dammit! Now I have to make a comment about Indy car tech on a daily driver!

I wish those guys well with their... Whatever.

That solid wing looks nothing like, performs nothing like, costs nothing, is nothing like the solid wing I am interested in. I imagine that's true for everyone here. But, I am often wrong.

Yes, sails can perform. I am not saying they can't. I didn't say they can't.

It's just they are very expensive. Hence the topic.

I want a junk rig association for solid wings! Or, I think I do. As long as the chat group has a lot of drama.