Mechanical Power Transfer for Wind Turbine Powered Boats

Long article with a lot of details on the mechanics involved.

And btw…

Deck mounted windmills driving propellers have propelled vessels directly into a headwind, with kite powered propellers offering the possibility of comparable achievement.

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thanks for posting this link…I had asked about this form of propulsion in an earlier thread

Yes, this was discussed here on another thread not that long ago.

It’s somewhat counterintuitive that a wind turbine powered boat could sail directly upwind. While the boat could be moving directly upwind the blades themselves have an angle of attack and travel a longer distance similar to a conventional sailboat tacking upwind.

driving straight into the wind is without a doubt a hurdle to overcome however if the windmills have a vertical shaft as discussed in the article it appears the most difficult part to overcome is the transmission of the drive power from the turbines to a propeller shaft hence why I was wondering about using an electric or possibly a fluid drive arrangement? A pure mechanical arrangement to me would be very difficult to make work with rotors distributed down the length of a long vessel? Plus integrating engines would be simpler since some form of engine power is still going to be required to be fitted.