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Another Angry Woman

Oh capitalism, you've innovated again!

News article: ocean bird designs worlds first wind powered sailing vessel. Illustrated with a pic of a cruise ship with sails
94 comments
DELETED

@stavvers I love that they didn’t call it a ship or a boat… They called it a SAILing vessel and they still didn’t catch on. Brilliant!

Rabbit Cohen

@MaddieT @stavvers Considering that their website says openly that they're looking to "reinvent sails", I'm pretty sure they did catch on.

DELETED

@BathysphereHat @stavvers

Well, Rabbit… I was referring to the photo here not a website that isn’t linked or refernced in the post. But thank you! 😆

Rabbit Cohen

@MaddieT @stavvers Fair, I'm mostly annoyed by the OP being misleading.

FeralRobots

@BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers
Honestly I think that makes it worse. They claim to want to reinvent sails, & their phrasing implies that no previous sailing vessels were wind-powered. So if they do understand that, they're guilty of bullshit.

Rabbit Cohen

@FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers Their phrasing doesn't imply that though, that was the headline that they didn't write.

Mikela

@BathysphereHat @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers

title is terrible but its a autonomous cargo ship thats wind powered for slow port to port shipping

which is kindov neat and a first of its kind of thing

binchicken

@castironflower @BathysphereHat @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers well, maybe fully self-sailing will work better than fully self-driving.

that was a difficult thing to say with a straight face

Rabbit Cohen

@thegarbagebird @castironflower @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers The thing that doesn't particularly make sense to me about making something like this self sailing is that the vast majority of labor on a cargo ship like that is, as I understand it, not navigation but maintenance and such.

binchicken

@BathysphereHat @castironflower @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers oh i am sure that much like self driving cars they will not have any build issues.
they will be no trouble at all in a busy port, docking around one of those will be a breeze

FeralRobots replied to binchicken

@thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers
They've got motors for maneuvering in port & no port in the world will let them pilot automatically. So that honestly won't be an issue.

binchicken replied to FeralRobots

@FeralRobots @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers oh, so they're not actually automated. well that's a massive relief.

FeralRobots replied to binchicken

@thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers
I don't think we're saying they're *not* (I mean, they don't exist yet, but looking past that) - I think we're saying they *can't be*, because maritime law will require them to not be. There may also be technical reasons but the legal (& insurance) reasons would supersede them.

Mikela replied to FeralRobots

@FeralRobots @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers my understanding is the goal fully automated fleets in international waters and human ran within ports

binchicken replied to FeralRobots

@FeralRobots @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers that's what i’d like to think too, but tech companies tend to find things like laws restrictive. they stifle ‘innovation’ and cut into profit margins

Mikela replied to binchicken

@thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers they dont doc in port automatically but are driven in by humans

the ocean is big and accidents are rare at high seas

FeralRobots replied to Mikela

@castironflower @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers
yep, AI advocates & VCs can want what they want, maritime authorities are not going to let ships dock without qualified pilots.😉

binchicken replied to binchicken

@BathysphereHat @castironflower @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers i agree that in open water, they will be effective. i just don't know how they will get there.

my guess is with expensive port refits it will be doable.

Mikela

@BathysphereHat @thegarbagebird @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers

i think, and i could be wrong, that diesal engines and stuff for humans is the big maintenance task

so electric motors and a tiny computer plus rigid sails might actually have significantly less things to break and if they do it might just sail in circles

and its frieght so i presume a percentage needing a rescue is ok

FeralRobots

@castironflower @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers
For practical, legal purposes, cargo vessels can't be autonomous at this point in time. 'Self-sailing' almost certainly refers to automating control of the foils, along with deeper integration of navigation, etc. They would literally not be permitted into any significant port in the world without a qualified skipper & pilot, & based on their concept vids the ship has power & maneuvering capability.

Aaron

@FeralRobots @castironflower @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers What's to stop a crew from meeting the vessel just before it enters port?

Jimmy Havok

@FeralRobots @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers What's interesting about it is the hull's superstructure is designed as a wing so the hull itself is providing power along with any sails that are up. It's a vessel that is actually a sail. The additional wing sails are designed to be easily reefed for high winds.

Projektionsyta

@stavvers
😂 I wonder if the headline is copied straight from their press release...
@RustyBertrand

The Homespun Days

@ColesStreetPothole @stavvers I have this concept for email that you print out and someone brings it from point a to point be in real life! I call it, wait for it, analog email.

FeralRobots

@ColesStreetPothole @stavvers
I'm chuckling over here because Jones Bikes actually sells something like that. They have a frameset that accepts Bafang mid-drive units, but it's also designed to function well as a pedal bike, & I've seen vids or blog entries from a bunch of their customers who've done exactly that (or vice-versa). Jeff Jones has a long 2 part product-tour video where he touches several times on their thinking about that.

FeralRobots

@ColesStreetPothole @stavvers
(Jones Bikes is almost notorious for their devotion to bicycling, but they're deeply agnostic about how people do it. I think Jeff's view is that if they can give people a decent ebike, it's fewer times people have to use a car.) (Jeff REALLY loves bikes.😆)

Coles Street Pothole

@FeralRobots @stavvers I mean that's kind of a cool concept, and ebike where all the heavy battery/motor bits can be removed and just...pedaled. 🙂

As long as he doesn't say he's designed the first non-e-bike! 😂

Yakyu Night Owl

@stavvers They will call the Middle Passage a series of rigorous tests with prototypes too.

StaringAtClouds

@stavvers It's a little known fact that the Cutty Sark was only as fast as it was thanks to being powered by twin 600 horsepower diesel engines

[/s]

Rabbit Cohen

@stavvers Ok, I know we're having fun here, but what is more likely: that an otherwise successful (as far as I can tell) Swedish ship design company has reinvented sailboats for no reason, or that there's some sort of innovation here that's just not immediately obvious from a headline?

Rabbit Cohen

@stavvers Like, looking at their website, it looks like this is a very real effort to reduce carbon emissions in shipping while also avoiding a lot of the disadvantages that make traditional sailboats impractical for modern freight, and it seems kind of backwards to be shitting on that.

Vincarsi

@BathysphereHat @stavvers what I believe is being mocked here is the need to frame every new idea as some kind of earth-shattering development. It comes from the tech-bro cult of disruption, which is not a sustainable attitude.
I agree that the idea seems cool, but the headline is just cringe. A few people poking fun at the media being desperate for clicks won't make the company decide to shelve development on sustainable shipping options.

lawless polymorph

@BathysphereHat @stavvers I think the innovation here is the scale of the ship. I wouldn't call this a sailboat because it's orders of magnitude bigger than a sailboat. It is a sailing ship though... I think.

I wonder if "wind-powered" is a jargon word that somehow excludes all previous sailing ships...

Jimmy Havok

@typeswitch @BathysphereHat @stavvers More accurate headline would be "windpowered modern cargo vessel."

Check out the Harryproa for a smaller scale substitute for island-hopping tramp steamers: harryproa.com/

alexadeswift

@stavvers obviously I didn't sail a yacht ⛵ using wind and sails all those years ago, because it hadn't been invented yet 😝

Tony Wells

@stavvers

I'm still giggling over that time the tech bros suggested everyone contribute $ to a fund and it could go to providing services. They re-invented taxes!

Hans Möll

@stavvers Amazing! But oh.. wait! Haven’t I seen something kind of like this somewhere before?

Hunterrules

@stavvers
captialism is le bad because we are creating more environmental friendly ways to traverse the sea and save sealife? is the funniest take on anti-captilism I've heard all day. You single handly without fail find a way to blame captilism for anything. Today its inventing a boat that reduces carbon emissions(not even sure how that proves captilism is bad lmao). Tomorrow who knows? why dont you name me ten innovations that were made under communism. Yes capitalism isnt perfect but communism is equally worse.

Irenerd

@Hunterrules0_o @stavvers no, is because de headline says that this company invented something and that something was invented thousands of years ago. ⛵️

MissConstrue

@stavvers Well, as we all know, the biggest complaint the Pilgrims had was how long it took to row from Plymouth to Plymouth. Chris Columbus lost two ships when the crews just got tired of rowing.
If only the Dutch and Spanish and British had sails…imagine what the world would be like if they’d been able to colonize every beach they ever saw.
Phew, good thing we didn’t have sails before capitalism! 🤣😇

Chris Williams

@stavvers I can't believe its 2024 and we just figured out we could use wind to sail the seas!

The Homespun Days

@stavvers Wait till they see the thing I've invented on my back deck!

Eris :trans:

@stavvers

Wait until they realize that I have invented a new light source that requires no electricity and uses 100% sustainable biofuels! This is going to revolutionize the world!

BarryP

@stavvers There was something similar in the 1930s, or thereabouts. The three or four “sails” on that cargo ship were more cylindrical.

Derek Caelin 🌱

@steverocky wow! They've got another prototype out already! 🙃

Steph Roccia

@derek

Yes - and this one is a lot faster...33kmh and produces 3,000 hp in full sail! ⛵

Loki Laufeyiarson

@stavvers Didn't Jacques Cousteau have a ship with sails like that built in the 80's?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyone_

Beachhart

@stavvers
Would you just look at those circa 500 BCE copycats?

Alex White-Robinson

@stavvers give them 2 more iterations and they'll be back to 'bus' again

Binks

@stavvers Seen this article banded about a lot, and yeah, it is trash, but the Oceanbird itself is actually an interesting solution to a serious problem. This thing is massive, it's almost 3x the displacement and ~1.5x the length of the largest sail ship ever made. Conventional sails do not work at that scale, which is the minimum a modern cargo ship needs. The solved that with super tall "sails" that are more like airplane wings. It's not as silly as the headline makes it out to be.

Val

@stavvers could be kinda cool tbh if it was using the wind to generate electrical power for the motor, because then it can sail independently of the wind direction. It looks kinda big for that though.

daniel moreno

@stavvers wait for the next iteration: designed with AI.

Trash Panda

@stavvers@masto.ai
Every sailor from a few hundred years ago: "am I a joke to you?"

Dean Wampler

@stavvers Didn't the Phoenicians patent those first?

Snowshadow

@stavvers 🤣 😂 🤣 🤦 🤣 World's First 😆 Sailing Vessel😂 🤣 😂 😆

Doomstrike

@stavvers These headlines are crafted for click bait, or to be shared and scoffed at. They get shared though and increase engagement "oh look at these idiots"
Like the Facebook posts that are deliberately ambiguous of factually incorrect. Then a 100 folks chime in to correct and argue.
Ironically I know this, yet here I am. 😔

Sharkitty :sparkletrans:

@stavvers@masto.ai They reinvented the sailboat ​:neocat_laugh_tears:​

Kevin Russell

@stavvers

I am ABSOLUTELY sure it was written as "wing driven" and a committee said it must be a typo.

J👀

@stavvers

Next: ebook devices that use no electricity made from natural materials from trees.

Full Metal Archaeopteryx

@stavvers
Let me guess: it uses computers to harness the wind...

Next year, it'll be AI

zephyr :verified_paw:

@stavvers Finally we've moved back 2 fucking milleniums

Jacket

@stavvers Looking online they achieved making the largest wind powered cargo ship py innovating on those pilers that can rotate 360 degree and even tilt. I see nowhere that it claims to be the first one.

DELETED

@stavvers That just sounds like a sailboat with extra steps. I'm gonna need to leave this entire plane of existence for a moment.

DELETED

@stavvers
I hope it has enough battery power to get it out of the doldrums.

Jigme Datse

@stavvers Um, I think the Ancient Greeks would have a thing or two to say about that, and almost certainly well before them as well.

snag 🇨🇦

@stavvers me at age 12 rockin' in my wind powered sailing vessel

A picture of kids sailing in Optimists dinghys
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