Ok lets go back to Feb 2010 Giz magazine had an article about the first Tribrid (human-sail-electric) watercraft in history (
http://www.gizmag.com/evolve-electric-m ... yak/14106/ ).
As an Engineer/inventor this article intrigued me so much I went out and bought the first TI I could get my hands on. Here is the video from that article that got it all started for me (warning: it's kind of boring but what he says is very significant)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=241QmxFcbuc#t=150[/youtube]
We all know the world is running out of oil, and the days of raw power boating with giant gas engines (guzzling huge amounts of fuel) are pretty much done except for the few rich people who can afford to squander thousands of dollars in fuel per yr (at $4.50 per gallon). Or multi million dollar sailboats, this pretty much leaves us common folk who also like to get out on the water and actually get somewhere and do things out of the game all together.
I’m a little frustrated right now because since that article was posted I have seen nothing written on the subject since then. I just did an internet search and the only things that come up are that original article and my own crap on the subject, "AM I MISSING SOMETHING".
Now 4 yrs later the Hobie Adventure line of boats are one of the most popular boats on the market today, but not necessarily for the reasons outlined in the above article (they are just plain fun, and probably one of the best family boat investments you can make today, as we all know).
Some things that I interpret from the Giz article that need work.
The guy said in the article that you can go up to 8 hrs at 2 mph with the evolve. This guy is obviously not from the keys or south Florida where distances are huge if you ever want to get anywhere, and the currents are 5-6 mph in many areas. Two mph will not cut it (which would equate to around 8-10 mile range at a snails pace), realistically you need to be able to maintain 6-10 mph with a range of minimum 30 miles or so regardless of wind conditions for it to be of any use at all in my opinion, and where I sail (Ocean and destination sailing). Basically we want to use our TI as a family SUV and do everything we used to do with our very expensive and fuel hungry powerboats.....
Don't mis-understand what I'm saying, in my opinion the evolve system is light years ahead of anything else out there, and for what you get, is a very good value, and for lakes and some rivers (ie..short distances in relatively safe areas), it does the job extremely well. "But I want more".
One thing that I feel is significant that the guy doesn't really talk much about is, what if you use all the available power sources together as a total package.
For example what if you use the evolve and pedal power while sailing to increase your speed and increase your range, as well as give you acceptable performance regardless of the wind and direction. If anyone has tried to sail their stock TI in 5mph winds, typically your only going to get 2-3 mph performance, this just doesn't cut it for me (The stock TI sails at around .6 of available wind speed),Unfortunately when the wind gets over 12 mph, along with that wind you get lots of waves and chop and it becomes quite a wet and uncomfortable ride in any small craft or sailboat (that’s not for me, I try to stay out of those conditions). Alternately how many have been out on a sailboat 15 miles from launch and the wind dies, 'basically your screwed'.
Now lets get to reality on electric power and the state of the art. Fact of the matter is we are 20 yrs away from having a viable electric battery replacement for fossil fuel (if we're lucky). As an example the state of the art battery in your cell phone will power that phone for about 3-4 hrs usage (not including stand by). The same energy demand if powered by 1 gallon of gasoline would last 30,000 hours ( I saw that on a TV commercial recently). And solar power is pretty much limited to charging your small electronics over a long period of time, and that’s about it (nothing on the horizon there either).
Basically what this means is the energy density of a standard phone lithium ion battery is around 100 wh/kg whereas gasoline has an energy density of 12000 wh/kg. Which is why gasoline is so important to our society, as there is nothing now or on the drawing boards that can replace it power-wise pound for pound. This is the reality of the facts about the world we live in, we all wish it was better but fact is it’s not, with the evolve system being the best I have seen out there.
Does this mean we are basically screwed when it comes to be able to make a tribrid boat that has the capabilities that I outlined above and have to wait another 30 yrs for battery technology to catch up. Should we just stay home... or only go out when the conditions are just right which is only a few times a year around where I live, I prefer to be out there every weekend if I can (with the best time to go out being when there is very little wind and nice calm seas, which is ten months out of the year here where I live).
What are our choices:
1. Forget about sailboats, and go buy a $60k powerboat, and spend a hundred bucks a week on fuel ( I don't think so).
2. Just stick with kayaks and day sailers and be happy going short distances in protected areas (what most of us do now) ……….
What if there was another option fulfilling the dream presented by that Giz magazine article from 4 yrs ago that inspired me so much :
Something that uses technology that is already available now with currently available off the shelf proven inexpensive technology,
Uses energy wisely, and is extremely inexpensive to operate, basically you can go out all day and have fun sailing at desirable speeds (6-10 mph) even in very light winds, get to destinations whether the wind is blowing or not, with a typical 3-4 hr trip costing about a dollar in fuel.
The actual wind direction is no longer a critical factor in where your going . (can easily sail upwind, or in almost no wind) .
And best yet, extremely easy and simple to operate, you don’t have to be an expert sailer to operate.
No mirrors or tricks here, I have nothing to gain by promoting this, just a desire to fulfill what that article promised us 4 yrs ago and make it reality. So I can use the stuff myself…….
I got tired of waiting for Hobie to bring what I wanted to market so I ended up building the thing in my garage, it’s not rocket science and there is nothing special here, everything is off the shelf, basically what you need is:
A Hobie Tandem Island (off the shelf, no mods to the boat itself needed at all)
An off the shelf quality 4 stroke gas outboard ( I recommend the Honda 2.3, it’s only 27 lbs, and is very well made) (…we have to use a gas motor unfortunately until battery technology catches up to our real needs). Of course the Evolve electric propulsion will give you equal performance and is available now, but because of the energy demand (300-375 watts, ie.... enough power to propel the TI to 3-4 mph (with no sails up) also will work but your range is severely limited by the battery technology (a few hrs at best)). Alternately if you have two really fit peddlers you can forego the motors altogether. Unfortunately I’m not that fit, and need a little supplemental power in order to make the chain reaction work.
What’s the chain reaction you ask that makes all this work….. This is the apparent wind that blows past the wing sail generated by your forward motion, this creates a vacuum in front of the boat that propels the boat. Basically the combination of the wing jib and the mainsail works like a giant amplifier making the boat go fast with minimal energy input. A secondary affect of the wing jib is it accelerates the air going over the mainsail, turning a regular Hobie TI mainsail into a super sail.
The only special component is the custom made 33 sq ft wing jib sail that I ended up having to make my self in my garage (since I couldn’t buy it anywhere), it’s a really simple design and cost me about a hundred bucks in components and material to make. No rocket science here, it’s just a wing sail.
That’s it that’s all anyone needs, I’ve been running mine for a while now and I have to tell you I am impressed, this boat fulfills all my requirements and the hopes that that article inspired.
If we can generate enough interest hopefully Hobie will start offering a ready to go package (they already make 99% percent of it, we are just asking for that extra 1% from them to make it into something commercially available as a package. Otherwise we have to build the darn things ourselves.
For those that know me, I’ve been chasing this a long time, and it is finally here (well I have one anyway, but I had to build it myself (which sucks))
I have posted my exploits on a couple threads on the forum with the same video as shown below.
Ultimate Tandem Island thread, basically all my designs and improvements, but it's really long and boring reading (just watch the movie LOL) (
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=33720&start=285 )
or Tri-power capabilities of the Tandem Island (the movie) (
viewtopic.php?f=70&t=50169), basically showing off my new Go-Pro camera and presenting the same movie as below but without in depth explanation.
No tricks or mirrors here, this is just me sailing my tribrid TI, the one promised in the Giz magazine article 4 yrs ago.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dgLYAfCuEw[/youtube]
I am probably way out in left field, but my opinion is everyone would enjoy a TI like mine, but Hobie will never produce it unless there is a demand, and people start asking for it.
Thanks for listening (and sorry for the long post, again)
Bob