Until the recent America’s Cup race, wing sails were unfamiliar to some boaters. But their performance advantages have been proven many times over in sailboat racing, including the 1988 America’s Cup. Just like airplanes and birds, wing sails take advantage of higher pressure on one side – lift – and employ an airfoil shape. The exact final shape is customized for each boat, but no matter what, speed increases, and handling is simple.
With such obvious advantages, why haven’t wing sails been employed on megayachts? Given the increasing popularity of regattas, wouldn’t it have made sense? Well, yes. Even for owners who don’t compete for bragging rights, it still makes sense. But, based on my observations of this industry for the past 17 years, there’s still a reticence to do something considered outside the norm.
There’s one more patent in the mix, for the Wally Omer Wing Sail seen at top left, jointly developed by Wally and Gonen. Also called the WOW Sail, it’s illustrated on the Wally 130, but other Wally megayachts and cruising yachts can be fitted with it, too. Just as other wing sails are custom-designed, each WOW Sail will be tailored by Omer Wing-Sail, Wally, and the yacht’s naval architect. Wally and its sail-making subcontractors will produce the sail.
The components include a free-standing, rotating mast made of carbon fiber, with carbon fiber frames holding the sail. The sail is made of fully battened 3DL sail cloth. The simpler structure translates to less impinging on interior space. It also means maneuvers can be undertaken by one person, even on a superyacht as large as the Wally 130. There’s a hydraulic ram with push-button control over changing the wing’s profile, and a sheet to trim the sail. Wally and Omer also say that the WOW Sail will keep its shape longer and last longer versus traditional sails because it won’t slam. With wing sails, the angle of attack and aerodynamic efficiency are kept in all wind directions. To get a better idea of how the WOW Sail would look compared to a traditional sail, see the illustration at right, which overlays the former over the latter.
Not at Wally, though. The yacht builder has prided itself on its daringly different designs since day one. Interesting enough, it began testing a wing sail about a decade ago, aboard a 30-footer, intending to develop a similar setup for its larger cruising lineup. Wally’s research and development team learned about Ilan Gonen, the founder of Omer Wing-Sail. Gonen created his company in 2003 after extensive experience as an Israeli air force fighter pilot and as an avid sailor in his free time. He successfully designed and built a wing sail for a modified 37-footer in 2005, and further refinements and tests over the following three years led to a production-ready model. Gonen additionally holds a few patents for his designs.
No matter the LOA of the yacht, and regardless of conditions, Wally says the WOW Sail bolsters performance by 10 to 30 percent. The speed range is dependent on displacement: The lighter the yacht, the more efficient the wing sail. But to give an idea of what the better performance can mean, Wally says that in 12 knots of wind, the Wally 130 would end up half a mile ahead to windward, after half an hour of beating. The builder also states if the wing sail were used as a Code 0 downwind sail – essentially a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker – performance would double.
Wally did not reveal whether any clients have signed on to feature WOW Sails on their yachts. But given their penchant for performance, I’m sure we’ll hear of one soon enough.
Gonen seems to agree with this assessment. He tells me, “I do think that wings are the next step in the evolution of sails. I hope we made the first step in this evolution.”
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