Land Sail Vehicle to Generate Electricity

Abstract

The sailing record was broken in the fall of 2012. The aerodynamically designed sail allowed the racing boat to skim the water at speeds higher than the prevailing wind speed. This speed sailing record was the initial inspiration of the current work to investigate the creative use of wind to generate electric power in an innovative manner. It has been known for a long time that land yachts have been able to achieve speeds over three times the speed of the prevailing wind. The uplifting message of the current work is that this amplification of the wind speed could be heralding a new breakthrough for power generation from the wind. The current work then proceeds to discuss the components required for a landbased vehicle using an aerodynamically designed sail. There is a discussion of the mechanical systems as well as the principles of the electrical generating system, and the closed loop travel system has been laid out.