I have done alot of internet surfing on this product and am very close to purchace, $4400 best price I could find in oz. If anyone has this unit or knows of someone with a better price I would love to see your comments.
http://www.duogen.co.uk/index.html

Well yes but ask any shipwright or master about gravity and putting 8 or 15 kg 3mtr above deck level and what he has to say about stability. And How many amps would a wind generator produce if you run down wind for 24 hrs in say 15knt breeze? also I feel a wind generator can ruin the beauty of some classics....I can see everything so far fitting a perfect profile for my boat. I might fit a 2nd one in the future if the 1st one works out.

Running a 2 stroke genset would be very bad for your health I would think while sailing down wind.....I might as well take up smoking again!
what I was expressing is that running down wind with the duogen in water mode will still produce 8 amps as for the wind gen it may not be as effective.
Also it states the water mode works in the boats wash so there less than 1/10 of a knt drag.
The other good I see is when in a marina on shore power you can pack the wind and water blades away in seconds just leaving the main housing in place so the boat looks nice and neat.Solar pannels are great when the sun is shinning and if you have the room and the super structure to house them. I have just had a quote for a targa tower to support a D400 and solar pannels $2400 which includes approx 30kg of S/S tube + the wind and solar say 30kg ?? The duogen weighs I think 9 kg and bolts on in just a few minutes......Maybe some only look at negitives but for me im trying to find positives and to me I can see plenty.

Mate there is no tech forum in the sailing section thats why Im here and only going by all the other posts I seen it seems Its a good place to get peoples thoughts, negitive or positive....all good

The drag seems to be the make or break thing here , as well as the cost !

If the claim of 1/10 knot is true then could be good .

But do you need it ? Lots of night sailing ? Are you using auto helm lots ? Running a fridge?

A bit of kelp may be a real expensive catch!!!! Sorry that was a tad negative

Cheers

southace said...
I have just had a quote for a targa tower to support a D400 and solar pannels $2400 which includes approx 30kg of S/S tube + the wind and solar say 30kg ??

Those complicated gantries commonly seen on yachts lately really do spoil the aesthetics of an otherwise beautiful yacht and that is without mentioning windage or the effects on stability. Also people seem to keep adding things to them.

If you forget about all that and you have a yacht that has the beam carried well aft, at the deck junction of topsides and transom, mount a sturdy pole each side and brace them forward and athwart ships by incorporating them into your pushpit.

They should be of equal and sufficient height to carry a wind generator of your choice so that you do not get scalped by it's spinning blades but low enough so you can get at it.

Atop one pole mount your wind generator which with it's swivel base will always swing to the point of least wind resistance be it running or braked. Modern units in a stiff breeze can give you 20 amps + charge rate.

Atop the other pole you have the choice of mounting a twin of the wind generator or a single or twin pair of solar panels. If going the way of solar panel/panels it/they need to be mounted in the diagonal middle so as to swivel around the axis of the pole and from side to side. The side to side swivel axle needs to be sturdy and I would suggest a minimum of a half inch (12 or 13 mm).

There are several advantages to this mounting system.

1. Minimal clutter at the stern.

2. Minimal weight aloft.

3. Minimal interference with sailing efficiency (except if you have an old time yacht that has the boom protruding 10 foot past the transom ) as the items are as far away from the sails as they can get.

4. With sufficiently strong poles they would probably carry davits as well. (Not something I think I would do but worth considering depending on the yacht.)

5. Now here is the rub. If going the solar panel way, they can be adjusted at all times to take maximum advantage of solar energy by keeping them perpendicular to the Sun's rays, AND if it is overcast and the wind is howling, they can be feathered to reduce stress and windage. How good is that?

I have to admit that this is not my idea. I saw it on a Kelt 39 yacht that visited Bundaberg quite some years ago and I thought everything about the yacht was brilliant. They are the best "Beach Yacht" I have ever seen.

They are actually 36 foot long, capable of sleeping 12 in below deck bunks and are the only yacht I have seen with a sunken lounge.

They are now called Feeling 39s after the company was bought out by the French but the Froggies have changed the interior lay out to the design's detriment.

I hope you all understand the mounting system concept as I have presented it and get some mileage out of it.

I did a Google search trying to find a pic of the set up but it seems not every skerrick of knowledge is on the internet.

Ramona said...

southace said...

Mate there is no tech forum in the sailing section thats why Im here and only going by all the other posts I seen it seems Its a good place to get peoples thoughts, negitive or positive....all good

The maths don't add up. 8 amps developed from the loss of 1/10 of a knot of speed is far better than the improvement of a folding prop over a fixed prop, that's usually about 1/2 knot. A prop in the water developing 8 amps or 96 watts is going to need some serious power. I can not remember how many horsepower there is of the top of my head, I think its roughly 900 watts to one horsepower. So that's 1/10 of one horsepower not considering the inefficiency of a propeller, probably less than 50%. That's now 1/5 of one horsepower, that's going to slow your boat!


Plenty of other forums dedicated to this stuff.

cruisenews.net

www.boatdesign.net/forums/index.php

If you look close at the product the generator motor is much larger than most wind generators as it is mounted at deck level this is an advantage.
I think I read something about the gearing or larger magnets which creates the good amps.......I have searched all forums the only fault I have read that it is not as effective in wind mode even know it uses D400 blades I think it was something to do with the feathering of the blades in high winds.As for the drag speed loss well I will replace that when I convert my 3 blader into a folding prop and perhaps stop trailing my tuna lure! I cruise most of the time around 5.5 to 8 knots as long as my average will not dip bellow 5knots I will be happy.