In order to provide a rigid sail or aerofoil sail which has a lower overall weight, is cost-effective to manufacture and does not affect the passing under bridges, power lines or similar structures arranged over busy waters, in the case of a rigid sail for vessels, in particular, for large ships, such as bulk carriers, tankers, car transporters or bulkers, comprising a mast and a first aerofoil wing body mounted on the mast with a base and a head, wherein the mast is inserted through the base into the first aerofoil wing body and is arranged within the first aerofoil wing body, it is proposed that the mast, starting from the base, does not extend beyond a maximum height of the first aerofoil wing body, in particular, less than 75% of the maximum height.

An autonomous sailing vessel may include a hull, a mast, a sail, and a sail release device. The mast may be mechanically coupled to the hull. The sail may be mechanically coupled to the mast. The sail release device may be operably coupled to the sail and may be configured to automatically release the sail to spill excess wind. Alternatively or additionally, the sail may include a fore sail element coupled to the mast and an aft sail element rotatably coupled at a fore of the aft sail element to an aft of the fore sail element. In this and other embodiments, the autonomous sailing vessel may further include a camber control assembly to automatically set a camber angle between the fore and aft sail elements.

A rigging for a wind-propelled vessel includes: a rotating airfoil-shaped mast; a sail movably coupled to a trailing edge of the airfoil-shaped mast and configured to be hoisted or lowered along the airfoil-shaped mast; a swiveling masthead coupled to a top section of the airfoil-shaped mast; and a plurality of stays supporting the airfoil-shaped mast, each stay having a first end connected to the swiveling masthead and a second end connected to a hull of the vessel.

The invention relates to a wing type rigid sail fragmented into independent segments, where general principle involves diving the rigid sail into different segments that can position themselves independently from neighboring segments, depending on the wind received, with the profile of the sail controlled following two independent but complementary methods, where the segments at the front of the sail are linked together by their front flap, through a process that allows adjusting their relative freedom, playing on the angle that each segment can take compared to neighboring segments, and on the back of the sail sheet, the rope allowing sail adjustment links each segment by its back flap, top to bottom, allowing for adjustment of the opening up of the sail while keeping the desired flexibility of the sail.

The invention relates to a wing type rigid sail fragmented into independent segments, where general principle involves diving the rigid sail into different segments that can position themselves independently from neighboring segments, depending on the wind received, with the profile of the sail controlled following two independent but complementary methods, where the segments at the front of the sail are linked together by their front flap, through a process that allows adjusting their relative freedom, playing on the angle that each segment can take compared to neighboring segments, and on the back of the sail sheet, the rope allowing sail adjustment links each segment by its back flap, top to bottom, allowing for adjustment of the opening up of the sail while keeping the desired flexibility of the sail.

This relates to a propulsion device for a vessel, including at least one hollow wing which includes: an envelope which delimits an internal volume and which includes a rear part including two perforated zones; a suction device, to generate a flow of sucked air which is intended to pass through the perforated zones; and a shutter, adapted to alternately close one of the two perforated zones. The shutter includes: at least one shutter member which consists of a flexible flap, and an operator structured to operate the flexible shutter within the frame.

The present invention relates to a rig (2) for a nautical means comprising: a reference plane intended to coincide with a symmetry plane extending in longitudinal and vertical direction of the hull of the nautical means; at least one wing; at least one rigid support capable of supporting said wing and transmitting a propulsive thrust to the hull of the nautical means given by the aerodynamic lift generated by the wing when it takes wind; the wing comprising a first and a second main face opposite to each other, the rigid support being capable of supporting the wing at least in a first operating configuration in which at least a main portion of the first or second face is facing a first side of the reference plane and in a second operating configuration in which said main portion is facing the opposite side of the reference plane; the rigid support comprising a wing sliding path for switching from the first to the second operating position and vice versa.

A rigging for a wind-propelled vessel includes: a rotating airfoil-shaped mast; a sail movably coupled to a trailing edge of the airfoil-shaped mast and configured to be hoisted or lowered along the airfoil-shaped mast; a swiveling masthead coupled to a top section of the airfoil-shaped mast; and a plurality of stays supporting the airfoil-shaped mast, each stay having a first end connected to the swiveling masthead and a second end connected to a hull of the vessel.

A wingsail structure for a wind-assisted propulsion arrangement of a marine vessel can be stowed in a space saving manner. The wingsail structure includes a wingsail frame including a rigid or semi-rigid main wingsail and flap having an aerofoil, and at least one upper and lower coupling member connecting the main wingsail and the flap. The wingsail structure includes a foundation arranged to be fixed to a body of the vessel, the wingsail frame being rotatable in respect to the foundation. The upper and lower coupling members are configured to bring the main wingsail and the flap to a first unfolded standing position and to a second folded standing position. The wingsail structure includes a tilting arrangement configured to bring the wingsail frame from the second folded standing position to a third tilted position.

A wingsail comprising: a first aerofoil having a leading edge at a front of the wingsail and a trailing edge behind the front edge; and a second aerofoil having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the leading edge of the second aerofoil being closer than the trailing edge of the second aerofoil to a point of maximum cross-sectional width of the second aerofoil; wherein the wingsail is configured such that the leading edge of the second aerofoil can be positioned behind the trailing edge of the first aerofoil; wherein the first aerofoil comprises: an air inlet; an air outlet; a channel inside the first aerofoil connecting the air inlet and the air outlet; wherein air flow from the air inlet is directed by the channel to the air outlet.