Many of my body parts have reached the grand old age of 60 last week so it was clearly time to stop messing around and build something conventional for a change.
So I give you a preview of SoapFooT which fits the box, and is entirely conventional and conservative for a catamaran VAWT powered sailing craft
as you can see she is at present incomplete, and in all honesty this version is by way of a trial horse. I anticipate there may be some development necessary.
You will note the storm rig - which gives a new twist (sorry) to the expression “balanced rig”.
I expect a keel to develop, and I am pondering the question:
if batteries are not restricted to 4x AA, and there are no batteries; does she comply?
There is a little accolade for why I have called her SoapFoot (not open to Angus the erudite linguist).
Andrew at the risk of being too simple could it be
Seifenfuß
πόδι σαπουνιών
glissade de pied sur le savon
выскальзование ноги на мыле
or something like that
no i’ve got it its
石鹸のフィートのスリップ
I’m right ???
On the other hand it could be one of 59 anagrams
Oaf Stoop
Afoot Sop
Afoot Ops
Soap Foot
Oats Poof
Oat Spoof
Oat Poofs
A Of Stoop
A Poof Sot
A Spoof To
A Poofs To
A Foots Op
A Foot Sop
A Foot Ops
A Fop Soot
A Fops Too
A Oft Oops
Fa Oops To
Fa Soot Op
Fa Too Sop
Fa Too Ops
Oaf Op Sot
Oaf Sop To
Oaf Ops To
Oaf Top So
Oaf Pot So
Oaf Opt So
Oafs Op To
Sofa Op To
Fas Too Op
Soap Of To
Atop Of So
Oats Of Op
Oat Of Sop
Oat Of Ops
Oat Fop So
Pa Of Soot
Pa Foot So
Asp Of Too
Spa Of Too
Pas Of Too
Sap Of Too
As Poof To
As Foot Op
As Fop Too
At Of Oops
At Poof So
A Of Op Sot
A Of Sop To
A Of Ops To
A Of Top So
A Of Pot So
A Of Opt So
A Fop So To
A Oft Op So
Fa Op So To
Pa Of So To
As Of Op To
At Of Op So
Andrew looks like a wonderful device. Are the rotors solar powered? I’ll work on the quiz when I recover from my 12hr work day! may I suggest that judging by his answers Mr Trewin is suffering from some kind of British Winter ailment, over here we call it cabin fever, UK version might be the semiD shivers. You could both still remedy your problems with a quick hop on a kerosene budgie to sunny Florida, I’m sure Angus’s favourite airline has space for innovative Footy’ers, frequent flights into Orlando for some light airs early March 80 deg F US Nationals sailing. You can do the centigrade conversion, too hard after my evening martini. . Late entries are accepted. Paul
P.S. I have several spare boats and radios, come on prove impulse travelling isn’t dead.
First pictures were just teasers - tonight she sailed (a bit)
In the air
in the domestic flotation test facility (DFTF)
and in action outside
Thanks, Paul - one day I will take you up on that. I’m in the US later this month (pittsburgh) and Canada (Cambridge, Ont) isn’t that close to Nigel territory?
andrew
And yes, the rotors are solar powered, via the medium of the wind and the minor god, Aeolous.
Even one evening of breeze on the pond has led me to believe I need to go in the direction of Darrieus rotors - not sure if I have spelled that right - maybe with a Savonius section as a starter
Traversing the pond - upwind:D
I think I need a VP prop - thats what the second channel could be for!
andrew
I thinks it would rock when the rotors are turning, no? What kind of RPM (or RPH?) ar you turning so far? Your way of connecting the rotor to the prop is novel, but not too much drag with the long strut?
Your explanation of Rule 42.1 ought to be interesting!
Yes Andrew, Nigel and Cambridge are within hailing distance if hailing distance is 90 minutes apart via an 8 lane highway … perhaps Nigel could be inspired to buy you a beer if you were to be inspired to buy the second and I the third …
… the unfortunate circumstances of winter preclude sailing of any sort however … PM me to arrrange inspiration
No, no rocking at all. the rotor turns as I walk indoors - so that looks like about 3 to 4 MPH threshold (with the prop out of the water)
[QUOTE=TomoHawk;50204]I thinks it would rock when the rotors are turning, no? What kind of RPM (or RPH?) ar you turning so far? Your way of connecting the rotor to the prop is novel, but not too much drag with the long strut?
The rotor/prop are turning about 1RPS in the water - seems to give some water speed, but upwind (If I can avoid the bearings melting) will be the challenge - cos the sail acts as a , well for want of a better word, sail.
Your explanation of Rule 42.1 ought to be interesting!
No worries - I have tracked it down - the boat is ENTIRELY powered by wind so no explanation is required,
Having found the clause it appears that most politicians would be eligible to race:D
andrew
Andrew i see that you are utilising my favorite Satsuma wood for the transoms - what i would like to sugestest is if you transposed the rotor and prop you could utilise the 6kt tide race and Severn Bore to generate power and sell it to the grid.
My guess is that when the rotor is acting like a sail it will produce positive lift on one tack and negative lift on the other, assuming that the rotor spins in only one direction regardless of the boat’s heading. The upshot is that it would probably sail well on one tack but not so well on the other. Not the ideal performance for a boat, sail or power.
In the UK we deal with SAD, or cabin fever by creating more and more footys of less and less probable configurations. This cure appears only to apply to those christened “Andrew”
Andy - thanks for the anagrams. How long have you been a Grauniad reader?
andrew
Haven’t bought a paper in the last 35 years ~ came to the conclusion that the money was better off in my pocket rather than read someone else’s take on things.
Any way i like to start my own bits of news… Yet Of Snow ~ reports that a A Conflict Chiefer has had his lens cap super glued on to the lens have been strenuously denied by Friary Grottoes
Soapfoot got a saltwater outing at Clevedon Pirate Footy festival - she free-sailed down the lake a couple of times and I learned a LOT very swiftly.
Two (pathetic) clips showing rotation and propulsion taking place - don’t blink
Firstly: putting the rotor pivot where the mast would normally be has the effect of making a weathercock of the boat, and since there is no keel the only way she can freesail is downwind - so she did
Memo to self - move pivot to exactly middle of boat (CLR or CLA)
Savonius rotor operated by drag - so it always pokes a big lateral area up into the wind - even when I can sort out the balance going upwind will always be against this drag. - I will sort out a Darrieus rotor when I next get a minute - almost certainly with a Savonius section to take care of self starting.
Thinks - might be good for the Internet course - all upwind and downwind - no need to tack on the upwind legs - so soapfoot could just make two straight lines between the buoys!
This has the rotor pivot at the geometric centre of the hulls - so weathercocking should be reduced or eliminated, the rotor now runs on better PTFE bearings and is lubricated.
The Emmett-style upper support using 3 carbon rods has been replaced by a neater and more rigid system using bbq skewers.
Now trials (she may now get a radio brick for steering only) and then the darrieus rotor
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t this a Perpetual Motion machine? Sort of lifting yourself with your own bootstraps? With water resistance and frictional losses further subtracting from the energy available. My guesstimate is that it will sail downwind a bit slower than it would without the underwater propeller. Not that I wish to throw a dash of cold pond water upon any innovation-----.
