Land/Ice Yacht Concept.

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Buc
Buc
1 posts
Buc Buc
1 posts
4 Nov 2010 12:06am
Hey there guys, I am a student from UK and am doing my major project on a land/ice yacht which will be for the year 2025, i am wondering if anyone has seen this
www.neva.ru/EXPO96/urania/snow.html and if there is anymore information. Basically i am designing this for the use of it in Antarctica by research scientists, using wind power as an energy provider to the vehicle along with maybe electric motors to aid. Does anybody know if its possible to land/ice yacht in antarctic conditions? In my scenario the users will be stationary when gales and whiteouts occur. Any help in this area would be amazing. This is an extract from British Antarctic Survey which states the wind characteristics
"

The BAS stations generally experience moderate winds, with mean wind speeds of around 6 ms-1 (12 kt, moderate breeze), but in gales, which can occur on over 40 days a year, mean speeds can exceed 30 ms-1 (60 kt, violent storm) with gusts of over 40 ms-1 (80 kt). Signy is the windiest BAS station and has experienced hurricane force gusts over 55 ms-1 (110 kt).
High winds making life difficult at a field camp. No work today! These winds are around 30 knots, often 60 knots are encountered but few photographs are taken then!
High winds making life difficult at a field camp. No work today!

Elsewhere, strong katabatic winds, caused by the flow of cold air off the plateau, make some coastal sites around Antarctica the windiest places in the world.

Port Martin (67°S 141°E) is an especially windy site with an annual mean wind speed of 17 ms-1 (33 kt — nearly gale force). The station has recorded a monthly mean wind speed of 28 ms-1 (54 kt — storm force 10) and a daily mean of 46 ms-1 (89 kt). On average it has only 22 days a year with mean wind speeds less than 13 ms-1 (25 kt).

Winds at the South Pole are mostly controlled by the slope of the snow surface and are a relatively uniform 6 ms-1 (12 kt) from a direction of longitude 22° East. There are few calms or gales.
"


Cheers.
landyacht
landyacht
WA
5921 posts
WA, 5921 posts
4 Nov 2010 8:38pm
windsurfing on snow was tried many years ago , im told afterwards the thought was along the lines of " well that wasnt very clever".
I can see that sailpower or kite power could be a good way to cut down on fuelcosts, it would just need a competant operator (OOh look theres one under deskand some thought on rules of usage.

given the dangers that abound in Antarctica I would be seriously considering Not allowing recreational sailing
( yes it is me Gizmo)
Test pilot 1
Test pilot 1
WA
1430 posts
WA, 1430 posts
4 Nov 2010 10:46pm
It would not be recreational, it would be done in the name of science......Yeeha!
It could be "fun" spelt with a "T" for terror[}:)]
Gizmo
Gizmo
SA
2865 posts
SA, 2865 posts
5 Nov 2010 11:45am
I tend to agree with landyacht re; no recreational sailing in such an isolated location ...
Possibly the best way would be a kite sail, its been tried and tested with time, minimal rigging and provides an uplift which would be useful.
Or even a "V" rig which is similar to the "crab claw" set up used by islanders on sailing canoes for generations.
I don't know what angle you could get with either of these rigs but some serious research would give the answers.
Within the past few years I was reading about some Australian guys doing a polar trek with a cart using truck inner tubes as wheels and placing a Kevlar skin over them for puncture protection.
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