French cruise company Ponant and Saint-Nazaire-based maritime shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique have teamed up to test a revolutionary sailing system on the company’s vessel ‘Le Ponant’, expected to significantly reduce energy consumption tied to propulsion and thus minimize the operation’s environmental footprint.
Introduced as part of the sailing cruise-vessel project Silenseas, launched two years ago by the shipyard, the ‘Solid Sail’ system saw the beginning of its testing phase on ‘Le Ponant’ on 31 October. Two patents have been filed in 2009 and 2017. The new type of sail is made of fibreglass, carbon, and epoxy-resin panels in a carbon-slat frame, which will contribute to smaller environmental impact.
During a technical stop in Marseille on 25 October, solid sails of more than 300 m2 were installed on Le Ponant. As the three-masted ship sets sail for Cape Verde before embarking on a transatlantic voyage to Cuba, the prototype, on a 50% scale, will be tested fort one year on the company’s sailing vessel.
We are confident that the Solid Sail propulsion system can be a solution for passenger vessels in the future, allowing for significant operational gains both environmentally and economically speaking. We had already carried out tests with a smaller version of the sail on the monohull of Jean Le Cam, the skipper on the Vendée Globe,
…said Laurent Castaing, head of Chantiers de l’Atlantique.