Airplanes deploy revers thrusters when landing which are basically just shaped metal shields that move into place behind the engines to provide reverse thrust and slow the plane.
But adding a fan on a sailboat is seen as stupid and doesn’t work.
Airplanes deploy revers thrusters when landing which are basically just shaped metal shields that move into place behind the engines to provide reverse thrust and slow the plane.
But adding a fan on a sailboat is seen as stupid and doesn’t work.
Well yeah, because the sail is not needed at all, you just need the fan.
A modern commercial jet engine is just a very powerful fan anyway. You move air backward, you move forwards. Works just as well on boat as on a plane.
The sail would just be a very inefficient reverser.
Yeah, so inefficient as to be completely ineffective. In other words, “it doesn’t work”.
No, it’s not completely ineffective, just very ineffective.
If you blow enough air at a sufficient sturdy sail you can absolutely generate trust from the airflow the sail deflects.
But you’ll be more efficient if you remove the sail and just point the fan in the other direction.
You’d be even more efficient if you put the fan under the boat and push the water instead of the air.