I just saw a bit on the Discovery channel about assisting ship propulsion with what amounts to an 80.2 square meter kite that they call a "Sky Sail." It even looks like a giant pansh ace. They say that in a 10 mph wind it produces 2 tons of pull and can save the 100' foot research vessel equipped with it 320 gallons of fuel oil per day. They went on to say that if half the worlds cargo freighters were to use them, it would save 2 billion gallons per year. Pretty cool, I think. I wonder how many of the guys who thought it up were into traction kiting?

They are alot father along now. They have installed sky sails up to 160 square meters in size creating 130 tons of pull. The last I heard they are pretty much finished with research and Development and are now starting to go into production.

Wow. Are there any videos on YouTube showing these things? That would be cool as all heck to see.

Here ya go Ragden...

Look Here

Cool vid- even saw the big wooden x-winder keeping the bridle lines neat and tidy.

Quote:

Originally posted by heliboy50 I just saw a bit on the Discovery channel about assisting ship propulsion with what amounts to an 80.2 square meter kite that they call a "Sky Sail." It even looks like a giant pansh ace. They say that in a 10 mph wind it produces 2 tons of pull and can save the 100' foot research vessel equipped with it 320 gallons of fuel oil per day. They went on to say that if half the worlds cargo freighters were to use them, it would save 2 billion gallons per year. Pretty cool, I think. I wonder how many of the guys who thought it up were into traction kiting?

That was some pretty cool info and minor statistics. Thanks for revamping it.