@36058 I have been practicing sailing and just fixed my winches. My rigging and sails are good enough for the puget sound. A wing would be awesome but I would want the ability to reef and stow the sail. I would not even know where to begin on that. Sounds freaking sweet tho, so shoot me your ideas. It has to cost less then a traditional sail set up or I can't really justify it. I don't want to get stuck in a storm and killed either so I'm sure it would require some good engineering. Here is the specs for my boat:
http://www.columbia-yachts.com/c-26mk2.html
One of the best things about the wingsail is that you don't ever have to reef the sail. You just tap the lever that controls forward/neutral/reverse thrust into the neutral position and the sails not only stop powering your craft, they automatically maintain the lowest possible wind resistance that a sail can maintain. So you can sleep effortlessly.
If you wanted to reef your sail simply to slow down the craft you can simply tack at a much less efficient angle which is accomplished simply with the rudder.
The sail itself can be purchased from the inventor, or it can be made at home. It can be made from sheet metal framing, an aluminum tube, some kind of bearing (like ordinary grease ), and it can be skinned either with sheet metal or heat shrinking transparent plastic membranes like the ones used on the America's cup vessels and on airplanes:
https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/0...00.pbworks.com/f/1305507518/AC45-Wing-big.jpg
The picture shows the lightweight sheet metal (and composite) framing that world class racing yachts use along with the transparent plastic wing skin.
Whether it costs less than a traditional sail setup probably depends on how much of either system you make vs buy. But the wing sail will last many times longer than cloth sails, is 10 times easier to sail, is much safer and even a child can learn how to steer the craft in an hour or less. It can also provide a whole lot more propulsion for the same sail area. But your boat has a hull speed limit that you don't want to ever exceed. Therefore for cruising sailors you want a smaller sail area that doesn't push your vessel at racing speeds.
The racing boats attain speeds well over 50 knots with wing sails.
If Columbia is still in business you might want to ask them what the maximum hull speed for the craft is. Your boat came equipped with 310 sq feet of sail area. To match that thrust you would need a sail about 30 feet tall and approx 5 feet wide
There is a video or 4 in the link I posted yesterday that demonstrates the wingsail in action. You should check it out.