Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

marineinsight.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 281 posts

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#211

Post by HardwareLust »

Epa095 wrote: post #158
HardwareLust wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool link, thanks! Unfortunately they went bankrupt and the tech now belongs to what was their first and only customer, K Line.

That's such a disappointment, I always had higher faith in the kites than the sails. Just seems easier to retrofit on existing ships witouth taking too much of the cargo capacity. But are you sure they are bankrupt? The Internet claims "The company says the purpose of the acquisition, for which the price was not reported, is to strengthen the development and commercialization of “Seawing,” the automated kite system".…

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/k-line-buys-out-kite-manufac...

They are still developing the technology:

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/k-line-automated-kite-system...

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#212

Post by ttoinou »

HowardStark wrote: post #120
ttoinou wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I crossed the atlantic twice, each time for 650 euros the 13 days… add 250/300 euros for internet

Have long been interested in something like this. From where to where? How did you arrange the trip?

As the other said I was looking for repositioning cruises like 2 months in advance, from one continent to the other. Like I did Europe -> South America 550 euros Costa Cruise last year and Miami -> England NCL 650 euros early this year

The difficulty is finding good prices for a solo cabin. For a cabin of 2 it's even easier to find good prices for repositioning cruises

As the other said, there are more days at sea (less stopovers), and it can happen that some stopover port get cancelled (for example they cancelled my stop in the Azores because they didn't want to bother entering a big Atlantic storm, it was risky)

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#213

Post by baxtr »

ttoinou wrote: post #210
nullhole wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What type of ship was it? And how was the experience, did you enjoy the trip & find enough to do to stay busy/not bored along the way?

Big commercial cruiseships from Norwegian NCL and Costa Cruises It was amazing ! Perfect to relax, take a step back and think There's plenty of things to do, you can hang out with others, read a book, work online, look at waves all day long, go to the gym etc. The real danger is eating too much, food at restaurants is unlimited, even at official table service you can order multiple mains, multiple desserts etc. they…

Something like these?

https://www.costacruises.eu/destinations/transatlantic.html

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#214

Post by MezzoDelCammin »

tibbon wrote: post #208
lastofthemojito wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering it's a roll-on/roll-off ship, they're this close to providing a transatlantic passenger+vehicle ferry service, which would really be fun.

I’ve been looking for a reasonable way to get me and my motorcycle to Europe and back (rentals of my bike are $300/day, and I want to ride off-road occasionally, which isn’t great for rentals). I’ve also always wanted to sail the ocean. This could be a win.

Have You checked the validity of registration/insurance? I'm kinda curious about doing it the other way and trying some BDRs) maybe in a few years)

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#215

Post by gpm »

imglorp wrote: post #204
gpm wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd recommend a long canoe trip in Algonquin park (or somewhere similar nearby if there is something similar nearby) if offline is your goal (though obviously not entirely similar to an ocean crossing in other ways as well).

Is Algonquin that big? How long we talking here?

Yeah, it is. Basically just up to your route planning... I feel like at more than 2 weeks people start going farther north but I think that has more to do with "we can" than there not still being good routes in Algonquin.

I'd probably not recommend more than a week for a first canoe trip anyways.

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#216

Post by potato3732842 »

gsf_emergency_4 wrote: post #166
lastofthemojito wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering it's a roll-on/roll-off ship, they're this close to providing a transatlantic passenger+vehicle ferry service, which would really be fun.

Interviews with CEO, where he stresses that the main problem is not sailing upwind but to get there on time. https://youtu.be/qhAlImSIDyU https://youtu.be/QfHJE1UwMTw Another contender https://youtu.be/xsFc3pro8Y8 (Also FR based, cultural reason?)

Getting there on time is just a figment of the fact that you have to effectively sail further when sailing upwind.

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#217

Post by SoftTalker »

Epa095 wrote: post #150
thelastgallon wrote: post #124

I wonder why we don’t have nuclear cargo/container ships.

Probably the same reason for why there is not more nuklear power on land as well. Cost.

And crew training, certifcation, etc.

Not to diminish the skills required to run a conventional ship powerplant but running a nuclear reactor would take years more training and education and also command higher pay.

The ship would also be a prime target for pirates/terrorists.

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#218

Post by potato3732842 »

mrlonglong wrote: post #183
lastofthemojito wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering it's a roll-on/roll-off ship, they're this close to providing a transatlantic passenger+vehicle ferry service, which would really be fun.

Bear in mind that US cars are designed to cope with poor quality fuel with sulphur in it. Bringing an European spec car with engines not designed for use in the US may result in expensive damage. This is based on what I learned 30 years ago so this may be out of date now.

This is still true for diesel vehicles. I don't think it was ever true for gasoline vehicles since lubricity doesn't really matter for them.

That said, a lot of the relevant key components are technically capable of operation on either though doing so in reality can be more complicated.

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#219

Post by SoftTalker »

happosai wrote: post #205
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how to force GHG emissions externalities to the polluters Not happening for decades. Not until America’s boomers, Xi and his wolf warriors and Putin and his circle are dead. Solar is a success because it’s economically viable. We need more solutions like that. Not conference presentations wrapping a regressive carbon tax as a sailboat.

Solar wasn't economical until China made the strategic decision to invest into cutting solar costs and scaling production up. Putin isn't relevant, nobody really listens to him (the reason why he is so mad). It's really the American boomers who are happy the cook the planet to own the libs. Taxing CO2 isn't regressive - poor people don't fly to vacations or commute in unnecessarily large single-occupancy trucks.

> Taxing CO2 isn't regressive

It certainly is. Everything poor people need is manufactured and delivered with fossil fuels. Rich people could afford extra costs for carbon without blinking.

Re: Largest cargo sailboat completes first Atlantic crossing

#220

Post by SoftTalker »

nradov wrote: post #9
aerostable_slug wrote: post #2

> The 136-metre-long vessel had to rely partly on its auxiliary motor and its remaining sail after the aft sail was damaged in a storm shortly after departure. Well, that's a bummer. That said, this does seem the way of the future. We just need to either figure out maintenance robots and/or find a way to keep human crew happy on long, slow voyages across the Pacific.

You've got to be kidding. Using a fully sail powered cargo vessel is a PR stunt, not the way of the future. Regular motorized cargo vessels will probably use some form of sails to slightly reduce fuel burn on downwind legs but it's physically impossible to move huge volumes of cargo purely by sail power in an economical way. There just isn't enough energy in the wind.

Absolutely. There's a reason steam replaced sail immediately when the technology was invented.
Post reply on HN