Wingsail Rondal; the sequel

In the previous Windassist, we showed that  rigging company Rondal has received preliminary Lloyds approval for their Aero wing sail.

Nice news for the rigging company, but some questions arose in and around the editorial office. Hermen de Jong, Rondal’s innovation manager, answers the questions through the communications department.

We fully understand that Rondal is targeting the superyacht sector with this system. But, would this system also be applicable to merchant shipping, inland navigation and (larger) motor yachts?

“Rondal focuses specifically on yacht building, including wind-assisted motor yachts. For this purpose, a very lightweight aesthetic wing sail has been developed with very high aerodynamic performance. There is a lot of competition in commercial sailing and Rondal has decided not to get involved. Incidentally, there are already  NL providers of wind-assisted solutions for commercial sailing.”

Computer controlled

More technical: Is it necessary to place the mast foot on the plane? We understand that the system can be ‘stowed’ horizontally; how does that work and does it sufficiently reduce wind catch? We understand that the system is entirely computer controlled; has a manual ‘override’ been devised?

“The wing sail works like an inverted through rudder and has a deck bearing and bottom bearing. The wing can windvane when you are not sailing and that is enough to reduce wind catch. A streamlined profile like a wing has 10x less drag than a cylindrical tube with the same frontal area. The wing can also be stowed horizontally for exceptional situations, such as maintenance, unpredictable weather and crossing bridges. The wing is trimmed automatically, but can also be operated manually if required.”

Image: Rondal; Dragonfly by Dixon Yacht Design and AERA by Royal Huisman and Cor D. Rover Design.

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