• Welcome to the new COTI server. We've moved the Citizens to a new server. Please let us know in the COTI Website issue forum if you find any problems.

Hybrid Solar-Windsail Gravboat

The Pakkrat

SOC-14 1K
Admin Award
Designed by using Supplement 5: Civilian Vehicles

Hybrid Solar-Sailing Grav Boat (TL 10) M3 Mass (kg) Cost (Cr.)
Hull Streamlined configuration
Advanced Composites
Lightweight Construction
Waterproof, float on liquid
Stealth Coating -4DM to sensor lock boat
Structure 3 Hull 3 Armour 4 13 936 19,013
Propulsion Grav Lifter 0.13 13 13,000
Wind Sails 0.26 6.5 26
Power Wind Power-6 3 30 300
Solar Power-10 1 20 1,500
Armour no extra armour - - -
Weapons none - - -
Components Compact, Minimal Sensor Package – ship’s lights,
visual aids 0DM, Range 0.25km 0.14 0.25 200
No Comms (flags, manual signal lights,
personal comm) - - -
Advanced Life Support 0.39 136.5 97,500
Improved Controls 0 0 3,250
Hydrofoils 0 11.7 13,000
Performance Tuning 0 0 7,400
Crew Optimal – 2 drivers, 1 engineer
Crew Stations – Helm 1.25 125 -
Engineer 1.25 125 -
Simple Sleeping Area – cheap berths 5 100 1,250
Cargo food, water, camping gear 0.58 58 -
Agility 0DM
Speed Top Speed 50 kph by design, 62 kph before Hydrofoils, 78 kph after Hydrofoil effect
Cruising Speed 37.5 kph by design, 59 kph in field
Amphibious Speed 14 kph
Totals 13 1425.45 156,439

The Hybrid Solar-Windsail Grav Boat at TL 10 is a recreation vehicle for use by sailing sportspersons who eschew watercraft for grav lifter versions of small sailing boats. The grav lifter gives altitude to the vehicle, a streamlined boat-like hull that can land and float on water or land. Wind sails lined with photovoltaic, solar panels both provide horizontal movement and power. Wind generators are also mounted on the outer deck. Slight tilt of the small vessel (not unlike a helicopter’s vectored, downward thrust) allows the grav lifter to slightly add to forward motion. Extra power is shunted to crew stations and stored in onboard batteries providing an extra two hours of power in the event of cloudy days. Using zero fuel, the vehicle needs no tankage, though on calm days or on cloudy days, the small boat suffers a distinct lull in performance. Operators are trained to check weather predictions for optimal conditions for sailing.
Constructed of lightweight, advanced composites, this nimble craft is also coated with a privacy, stealth treatment for privacy against targeting sensors, especially at night when at rest. The streamlined hull allows for aerodynamic flow through water and wind. Navigation is provided by visual aids, compact lighting (pre-dawn and dusk settings). Sailors must use pre-digital methods unless personal GPS devices are on hand. Likewise, personal Comms are utilized since the craft carries no communications gear other than flags, manual signaling lights or primitive heraldry.
Besides the TL 10 Solar Power systems, the Hybrid Solar-Windsail Grav Boat makes use of TL 9 Advanced Life Support to provide for indefinite, long-haul, expeditions. Improved Controls at the helm aid in tacking and tail wind agility. Hydrofoils on this strange boat reduce drag on water and act as wind foils when above ground at low altitudes. These components are calibrated with Performance Tuning using high-tech computers to squeeze every bit of power to weight ratio possible. In track tests, under optimal solar and wind conditions, the grav and sails can attain speeds up to 78 kph, but designers caution against such. Limiter-governors on the propulsion system cap the ship’s speed at 50 kph, (though many owners remove such safety measures aftermarket). The amphibious speed of 14 kph is dwarfed by the cruising speed of 50 kph, (though 59 kph is boasted post-limiter). Some truly reckless crews have been known to catch gale-to-hurricane force winds to push the hull to the limit of structural integrity. Designers and manufacturers maintain this as ill-advised.
This sleek grav boat sleeps three in a simple berthing area. There are no amenities and as such, many crews bring along camping gear to prepare meals either on deck or in the immediate landing zone. Typical crews consist of two drivers and an engineer, all of whom can perform double duty for 16 hours of travel, generally stopping an hour or more after sunset. Often, low-tech or dynamo-charged torches or lanterns are brought on board and activated after dark to conserve ship battery power. Cargo space is limited to 58 kg, typically food, water and camping gear. Racers tend to use such cargo space for parachutes and harpoon guns to slow the ship or take tight turns about terrain features. The vessel has no ship’s locker or such storage bin. This is a vessel for operators intending to “rough it”.
The entire vessel, masts and sails can telescope and fold down into the space of 13 M3 and stored in 1.3 displacement Tons, though owners use the last .7 dT for hull buffer mounts for safe storage. Many affluent operators bring such a recreation vehicle into the cargo hold of a Yacht, Safari Ship or similar starship.
 
Cool. Solar Windsail.

What hull type? V, Double V, flat bottom, Cat? Since it's multipurpose a cat version might be the most interesting. I was trying to figure out the benefit of a Grav V hull with a keel might be. Since it's suppose to stay in the water.

Also, experimentation with telescoping masts has resulted in structural and performance issues. Perhaps those are fixed at TL10. For the sail we adjust reefing the sail in heavy wind. So, I think having Mast setting heights might be wise with an automated extension hydraulics system.
 
The hull of the Hybrid Solar-Windsail Grav Boat is a single V hull, but is far more aerodynamic than hydrodynamic, built as to be able to to float in liquid or fly at low altitudes via its grav lift. Higher altitudes are possible but not advised as it defeats the challenge of grav-sailing sport and recreation. Wind speeds are also higher at such altitudes and can damage rigging. The single hatch to the hold is watertight and when sealed, the boat can withstand submergence in shallow depths.

Variant Solar-Windsail Grav craft come in catamarans, trimarans, outrigger hull and other configurations as desired but oft-times this changes the arrangement of cargo, berths and the systems.

As the craft is designed with Advanced Composites and Lightweight Construction and is waterborn and airborn transit capable, the vehicle is Performance Tuned with Improved Controls with such media in mind.

Designers and manufacturers do not recommend the Hybrid Solar-Windsail Grav Boat for inclement weather except in emergencies. Please consult the User's Manual for instructions for weathering storms of the listed kinds in the Safety Precautions Matrix.
 
Traveller5 Version

Aeonghou Luxury Vehicles of Sudhaenga (Gzaefueg 1538) presents:

WGBTImpPHpLux-14 or Luxury Grav Boat - 14

TL 14 (or 12 if solar sails used for horizontal max Speed of 5)
Tons 9 (though actual volume increases to very thin and hollow 13 if solar sails deployed)
Speed 6 or 5 ( up to 100kph or 50kph using solar sails)
Load 1 (with the addition of a single Cargo Module)
Armor (Ar) 20
Cage (Ca) 10
FlashProof (Fl) 10
RadProof (Ra) 10
SoundProof (So) 22
PsiShield (Ps) 0
Insulation (In) 30
Seal (Se) 20
QREBS Q=A R=Flux E=Flux B=Flux (negative is better) S=Flux
Cost (Cr) 860,000
Crew 1 to 9, 10 in emergencies

Descriptors: (in parentheses can be left off Longname)
Watercraft (lands in and floats on Water)
Grav (Gravitic Drive, governed to Altitudes of -1 (5m depth) to 2 (50m Nap Of Planet)
Boat (single V hull, shallow submersible and waterborne)
Transport
(Standard)
(Medium)
Improved (Technology Staging)
Protected (Armored, Insulated, Sealed against harsh Environs)
Hi-Powered (tuned for performance)
Luxury (Quality rises to 10 or A, Recreational Vehicle)
Cargo Module (storage for Crew and Endurance)
VTOL Mod (with Stubs for Wilderness Landings if not Water)
Days Endurance
Continental Range
Manual Controls (Wafer interface optional with G-Drive)

Notes: This Vehicle moves much the same as its Mongoose Traveller version, though if the Altitude Governor is removed, (not manufacturer recommended), the Luxury Grav Boat -14 can rise haphazardly to Orbit if the Crew wear Vacc Suits at the minimum. The G-Drive uses +Fusion for the lifting power and a fraction of the horizon speed which is aided by solar sails and wind power. A forward/aft/port/starboard hull tilt can provide more vectored thrust from the G-drive, (again up to 100kph).
 
Solar panels lose efficiency rapidly as the angle between their surface and the sun's direction deviates from 90 degrees.

The cells in the sail material would have to have prisms to change the angle of the light to properly enter the cell, and even then the effective surface area for the purpose of light-gathering would be less than the actual surface area, except when the solar body is near the horizon AND the sail is oriented to face the light source with its full surface.

Therefore, in most cases the solar generation sails would be producing significantly less then their rated capacity for their area.

https://www.civicsolar.com/support/installer/articles/solar-array-tilt-angle-and-energy-output


Remember, this involves both azimuth and elevation angles of the sail surface.
 
Back
Top