Origin of the development
The project leader, since his youth, has always aspired to developing the use of renewable energies.
He
discovered the original possibility to sail into the wind by
using a rotary sail, at a moment when the necessity of energy
transition had become an evidence. As
an analysis of the principle showed the evidence of a huge potential,
he
launched the development program on 2014. First of all he built a
demo-ship.
Archinaute's ambition
Our
vision is to open a new way to maritime navigation, a third way
of technological break, between sailing and
motoring.
The
launch of
Archinaute
program is borne on the absolute conviction that the use of a
rotary sail is one of the very best pathways to address the energy
transition challenge in the nautical field.
As
this principle allows sailing in any direction and is based on a
mechanical wind power collection, it provides a
manoeuverability
and ease of use quite similar to those of a classical
motorboat.
So it
becomes
possible to design modern ships for professional use whose
main energy supply is the wind power.
Technology
The
principle
has been known since 1921 and it indisputably works.
The
present availability of tridimensional design tools, computational
fluid dynamics modeling, materials science calculations,
composite
construction, now allows to draw the best benefit from this
concept.
Actually,
designing a boat according to this principle requires very serious
studies to combine various knowledges at the best, but will not meet
major technical issues.
Considering the existing alternatives to
combustion engines :
* Photovoltaic
cells, with power limitations due to their conversion efficiency,
to the necessary
collecting surface and to the
alternation of
day
and night.
* Fixed
sails
of any kind (traditional or solid) which may be controlled by mechanical
means without
human
workforce but that will never allow to sail
into the wind nor to produce directly any kind of
energy such as electrical
or hydraulic power for general use or for energy storage
purpose.
Rotary sail provides numerous
benefits :
* The benefit of a free energy and an unlimited autonomy without any need to refuel in a harbour.
*
The unique
possibility to sail in any direction including into the wind.
* The
motion of the
ship fully controlled
by mechanical commands, without
need of any physical
workforce.
* A
manoeuverability quite similar to that of a motorship :
possibility to move backward, to rotate in
its own
length or to implement a
dynamic positionning
system if required .
* The
possibility to supply general purpose energies for instant use or for power
storage.
* A
dramatic
fire safety improvement and room saving as no more fuel is needed.
* To
get a similar technical performance, the size of the rotating sail will
be significantly lower than the size of
a
conventional sail.
* Lower
maintenance requirements than both sail boat or motorship.
Remaining limit :
The limit that will remain is that of
any system
using renewable energies : the availability of
such
energy,
i. e. the presence of
wind. An appropriate combination of batteries or additional
solar cells will address
this question on a case by case basis.
Business opportunities
The
necessity to follow the energy transition roadmap and the numerous
benefits of the rotary sail will result in wide outlets for this
technology in various sectors of navigation : fishing
boats,
passenger ships, merchant vessels, recreational boats, cruise
ships, scientific vessels.
In
every market sector, by a deep collaboration with future users, the
project team will customize specific design answering perfectly the
needs of the market niches most
receptive
to this innovative concept.
Process to market and media coverage
Two steps are requested to prepare the market outlets :
*
Building awareness of both the principle and the development team
in order
to win the
confidence
of future
customers and users; that was the core work done on 2015 and 2016.
* Acquiring a full knowledge of the
principle and
its practical implementation by building a ship,
making
extensive testings in real conditions and reaching a high level of
reliability; our next goal
is now to launch a full scale ship.
This
enterprise gathers several characteristics that will provide a high
level of media coverage: It's positioning into the energy transition
process,
the
originality and spectacular look of the prototype and the general
attractiveness of the nautical events.
The
outlets of the worldwide conference on climate, COP 21, in Paris dec
2015, will result in a long lasting interest of the medias for all
environementally friendly developement initiatives and boost
the media potential of ARCHINAUTE.
Anyway,
the development manager considers awareness building as a key point for
the success and he will create as many events as necessary to get a
high level of recognition.
By
supporting ARCHINAUTE, a
partner
will get a high level of notoriety associated with a very positive
image of
high
environmental commitment and enlightened vision of the future.