Wow. Ok so I get how this works but it still seems super pointless if you can go way faster than that with sails. Is it really going to scale up to commercial size any better than sails have? In fact it's the scale of the thing itself that's the biggest problem. Sure 5 foot waves will work for a cute little thing like that, but if you plan to put it on a gigantic ship you're going to need gigantic waves all the time to get the same thrust/weight ratio. It seems like there are much more compelling concepts for "Kite" powered commercial freighters. Sorry but I actually work in international sourcing and even if the cost went way way down, It's just not practical at all to triple shipping timeframes. Oh and why does it need a mast and rigging like that? I'll be he puts up sails when no one is looking...

Of course, this is nothing short of brilliant. I don't believe that the authors of this article or the owners of this boat claim that this is anything more than a prototype. It's pretty kludgey.

Later generations will no doubt improve on this both in efficiency, power and elegance. Will it ever be commercially viable for international freight shipping? Maybe not, but amazing technology approaches to shipping will surface as the price of bunker fuel continues to rise, carbon taxes are implemented and stack emission requirements are tightened by ports.

I look forward to seeing how this wave powered boat turns out and hope that the owners are collecting lots of performance and operation data.

Is probably there as an emergency backup in the event of a failure of the wave propulsion system. It will also be the mount for the mast head light and would be required to hoist day shapes and flags.

I agree with previous comments. It would take some doing to get this to work on a 157,000 DWT, 400 meter long, 56 meter wide container ship with a 15.5 meter draft. There is no way that 90% of the world's non-bulk cargo (26% from China) is going to be delayed by two months. The latest cargo ships can move at about 25kts (47 kph) and they are surely not going to crawl across the Pacific or Atlantic ocean at 5kts. There is already a backlog demand for container shipments in both China and Europe.

How would this system even work in a harbor, canal, etc? Not to mention there are patches of ocean that at times are as flat as a board, not even a ripple from the wind distubs the glass like surface.

If you can design this system to work a ship as big as the one listed above and go from Hong Kong to the Suez Canal in 14 days and from the Suez Canal to Rotterdam in 8 days then you've got something viable. Until then it's just a neat invention.

what id like to know is if he did put the sail up will that hinder or help the performance of the boat and if it helped what speed could he achieve.

Give the bloke a chance, its the first of its kind, I am sure things will improve in time.

I doubt the first boats with sails could match the speed of a super cat.

Just like the gigantic sale that is being tested to lessen the amount of fuel a super tanker needs to use on ocean crossings, this technology could also help lessen the burden on the diesel engines.Once it is perfected. Even if lowered consumption by only Five percent, for a super tanker that uses hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel, that could be quite a savings. Couple that with savings the big sales are suppose to help out with (20-25 percent) I think, and it adds up very quickly. In my personal opinion, getting huge sea going vessels and airplanes more efficient is more important than personal vehicles.

Brilliant article! And bravo to this eco-sailor/inventor for his dedication to the vital, yet under-appreciated field of exploring alternative energy. Who knows what marvelous potential lies ahead, and in what application (hybrid, lowering fuel consumption, etc.). Where would science be without this sort of pioneering spirit?

Brilliant article! And bravo to this eco-sailor/inventor for his dedication to the vital, yet under-appreciated field of exploring alternative energy. Who knows what marvelous potential lies ahead, and in what application (hybrid, lowering fuel consumption, etc.). Where would science be without this sort of pioneering spirit?

I used to be lost in the shuffle, now I just shuffle along with the lost.

At the very least this should be a requirement for all ocean going vessels. This technology would undoubtedly save immense amounts of fuel worldwide. We need to make wave power a reality, not just with boats, but with buoy type generators, and floating platforms akin to offshore drilling rigs.
The answers to our energy problems are all out there people, we just need to sweep away the opposition first. Vote.