2002 called and wants it's double sided wing sail back
www.boatdesign.net/threads/anyone-familiar-with-powerfoil-sails.603/
Picture fixed / changed amazing that now the air flow is clean and enters the foil smoothly at the front.
Its a more realistic representation of a modern sail but at that angle of attack i would imagine would be getting some separation on the low pressure side.
Your all just posting pictures of stuff that is totally made up no one has defined the conditions under which the sail will operate every picture just has a random profile to prove whatever they want . I can draw a picture of a windsurfer in the moon landing sail blowing the breeze, doesn't mean it's true or relevant .
Does anyone know the answers to these questions i think the must be answered before any technical argument can be made.
What is typical wind gradient between 0 and 5m at 1 m intervals at 15/20/25 knots , (this would be important) ?
What is the typical windspeed / board speed ratio at various angles across wind/ 30 degrees off/ 30 degrees up (obviously needed to determine apparent wind angle and combined with gradient to calculate the twist) ?
What is the angle of attack of a windsurfer sail at various points of sail ? (what foil shape do we even need, when combined with everything else )
How much lateral force can be applied to the sail by the sailor ? ( is a shorter sail faster because the rider can hold more force even though it will obviously have a lower l/d ratio or is the taller one faster because of a lower l/d , no point making a sail that simulates well as a plane wing when the conditions are different here .)
I have no measurements for these i could have a guess but if anyone and offcourse all those numbers could be mashed together in various ways to work out lots of things and would be the basis of any technical argument based on drawings graphs and quotes. If i was to make a sail i would establish these first. Of course there is a lot of people making great sails with experience and knowledge probably not doing this.
Realistically though if we want to see how well an existing product works the results are all that matters even if we don't know why it works its unimportant as long as we get the results we want.
All major sail manufacturers have a variety/line of sails for different purposes. Wave; freeride; bump and jump; freestyle; kids/beginner and race (slalom, formula and speed). In each category, there are a number of sails for various conditions (wave sail wind directions) or cost points for novices, intermediates and experts. This has nothing to do with wind speeds / range of use.
The challenge/difficulty for the wingsail is that even if it is the best at what it does, and we are not sure exactly what that may be just yet, its target market is somewhat limited by what it can do and its price point. If it does have a broad wind range, the cost may be justified since the sailor may not need as many sails, but wave, freestyle and race sailors will likely NOT be too interested.
I have wave, freeride and race sails and they each have their pros and cons. Each works well for the discipline that it was designed for, but cross over to another discipline has it downside, some great, some not so much.
For example, my race sails are very stable in a broader wind range than my other sails, but they are heavy & don't luff well = more difficult to jibe, water start, uphaul, or even carry to the water. For racing, the pros outweigh the negatives, for freeriding, the negatives outweigh the pros.
For the wingsail, all of these issues will be a challenge, but innovation is always good, but no always successful.