Windpower for voyage
NZPA-Reuter La Rochelle The French ecologist, Jacques Cousteau, left La Rochelle with his latest vessel on a 2%-year voyage designed to prove the fesibility of a revolutionary wind-powered propulsion system. The 70-tonne Alcyone, named after the son of the Greek god of wind, left for New York on the first stage of a voyage that will take it round Cape Horn to China.
The craft, whose monocoque hull splits into a catamaran stern, is instantly recognisable by two 10m high aluminium cylinders which provide complementary power for the two 156-horsepower diesels. Cousteau says the cylinders, known as turbo-sails, can either power the boat on their own at up to 10.5 knots or be used in conjunction with the motors, which could use 15 to 35 per cent
less energy. The turbo-sails, which turn to make best use of light breezes, suck the air inside and expel it through a series of vanes and vents to provide forward momentum. An earlier version of thecraft, the Moulin A Vent (Windmill), was wrecked in a severe storm in October, 1983, near the end of an Atlantic crossing.
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Press, 16 May 1985, Page 18
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187Windpower for voyage Press, 16 May 1985, Page 18
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