The engineering navigator Yves Parlier launched its laboratory boat on Tuesday in the Bassin d’Arcachon (Gironde), which will begin full-scale tests of its automated kite wing traction system, intended to decarbonize maritime transport.
“The principle of this demonstrator boat is to welcome on board our major innovation, a kite, a kite that can range from 25 to 200 square meters, to tow boats with sails”, explained Yves Palier before the launching his catamaran using a crane, in the port of Meyran in Gujan-Mestras (Gironde), in front of many onlookers.
The vectran kite sail can be fitted to any type of ship
Heir to the framework of his hydraplaneur, with which the navigator broke several world records and almost lost his life during the Vendée Globe in 2000, the catamaran was then piloted by its famous captain using hydro-generator turbines in the direction of Arcachon, its home port.
A veritable floating laboratory and commercial showcase, the Seakite, 18 meters wide by 15 meters long and without a mast, will enter a fully automated kite sail test phase in the coming days.
The kite sail in vectran (liquid crystal polymer), an “extremely light and resistant” material can be fitted to any type of vessel. By making “dynamic flights”, the kite will capture the energy of the wind “like a wind turbine blade”, which will then be stored in batteries.
In the line of sight: the merchant navy, which must accelerate the reduction of its emissions
“We see the kite as a hybridization of the technical engine. This represents an immediate saving in daily fuel consumption of 20%”, detailed the handyman sailor, winner of the Solitaire du Figaro, the Route du Rhum and the Transat Jacques Vabre.
In line with his business Beyond The Sea : the merchant navy which will have to accelerate the reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions from 2023 to adapt to the new rules of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). With 90% of global transport by cargo, “there is a huge market and room for all the solutions that work,” assured Yves Parlier.
After the first tests in the Bassin d’Arcachon, the skipper and his team will begin a three-year odyssey along the French coasts, in the Mediterranean and then for a double transatlantic crossing in 2026.