Old Tech, New Deck:

Ahoy! Welcome to I’dRatherBeSailing, your 5 minute roundup of all the best sailing distractions from the week.

In today’s letter:

• Old Tech, New Deck: Cargo ship sets sail.

• Race Updates: Aussies win Allianz, locals dominate Hamilton Island.

• Sailing Snippets: Super Lamps, Robo Boats, Bahamas SOS, Sailors Shoot at Orcas, Landlubber Hacks, The Pontoonamaran.

The Main Sheet

Close to the top of the list of why sailing is so damn cool is because it hasn’t changed much in the past few thousand years. This week, sailing was on the news, but of course all the outlets missed the best part of the story. Here’s what happened.

A ship set sail from China to Brazil. That is, in itself, a pretty unremarkable headline. What makes it interesting is that it is the maiden voyage of a cargo ship retrofitted with rigid, collapsible sails. So, who built them, how do they work, and what did the news miss?

Who: The sails were made by BAR Technologies, who specialize in designing high performance competition sailing tech. In 2017, they were the official engineering partner of the America’s Cup British team. These guys also designed the brutally cool retractable foiling system for the 142ft Baltic sailing yacht (I’ll include links at the end).

What: The sails are fixed wing sails called WindWings, attached to the deck, that can be folded while in port or canals. The BAR Technologies website is tight lipped with the details, however…

How: We can assume these WindWings pretty much work only as downwind sails. Two reasons why:

The first clue is in the test route. The prevailing wind patterns generally create a downwind flow from China to Brazil. This downwind flow is a result of the Earth's rotation causing the Coriolis effect, which deflects moving air to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. (Fun fact: using “Coriolis effect" in conversation makes you sound smart). So, they’re going downwind.

The second clue is the shape. If big square fixed sails on flat bottomed cargo ships seems familiar, well, that’s because a few thousand years ago the Romans had the same idea. Downwind ships were a crucial part of the Roman empire, and if you squint your eyes and tilt your head just a little, you can see a bygone era…

Why: Most industry changes follow an inflection point in regulation or technology. In this case, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry by 50% by 2050. New regs, powered by old tech.

While the news just reports on the environmental benefits of wind powered cargo ships, which is of course important, the back story is far more interesting. BAR Technologies has bookended a few thousand years of sailing tech, and it’s hidden in plain sight.

History really does repeat itself.

The BAR Technologies page on the WindWing is here.

Their Sailing Superyacht Foil System is here.

The Baltic Yachts page for the 142ft sailboat and foil system is here.

Sailing Snippets

Super Lamp: What’s the difference between a yacht and a super yacht? It ain’t waterline, its lamps. As soon as there’s bedside and saloon accent lamps, it’s a super yacht. Check out this listing for 32m sailing yacht Selena with plenty of lamps, and a pretty cool recessed dinghy storage on the foredeck, here.

Robo Boats: Two bright orange sailing drones will be sailing around the Gulf of Maine collecting data, get a look here.

SOS: Bahamas man rescued by Coast Guard off of Cay Sal after his sailboat broke down, and his flares were spotted. Cay Sal is in between Cuba, The Keys, and The Bahamas, aka the middle of nowhere, and hilariously enough has a Google Rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Kevin D gives it 1 star and says “Bring a radio and a flare gun”. Jazz Cowie says “service is terrible, I waited 3 days before I got any food”, also giving the island 1 star. Story here.

Sailors Shoot at Orcas: Well, that’s messed up. Video of sailors shooting at Orcas that were ‘interacting’ with their rudder. I want to know if anyone has tried tactically emptying their head when under an Orca attack, surely that could be a grey area between fighting back and doing nothing. Or brown area… Anyways, article and video here. 

The Pontoonamaran: This guy on Reddit turned a pontoon boat into a catamaran, and you know what, it’s pretty darn cool. Check out his handi-work here.

Worth a Read: It’s more on the land lubber side of travel, but this newsletter does a great job of being “that friend who knows all the travel deal hacks”. Many of their finds also nicely cross over with some of the more exotic charter base destinations, so maybe I will make it to Greece this year despite those insane plane ticket prices. Check it out below.