June 11, 2011
Are there any cargo sailboats?
A friend lives on an island in Canada and wants to use the water transportation cause of his job. He already has a sailboat but its a small one, so even towing the cargo is difficult. So are there bigger sailboats with lots of space for cargo? I know there are cargo boats and ships, but he uses sails to save on fuel. It helps him a lot.
And the weight of the cargo wouldnt be more than just few tons.
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Jun 11th, 2011. Comment. 
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Comments on Are there any cargo sailboats?
To carry a few tons or cargo, you’d want a decent size boat. And since the cost of a large sailboat is exponentially greater than a fuel powerd boat, it doesn’t really make much sense ecconomically. Not to mention, most sailboats arn’t designed for deck cargo… so you’d need a hoist system just to get the stuff out of the hold, which increases costs as well.
bad idea…
There is a German Cargo ship with a sail. http://www.skysails.info/index.php?L=1
Yes, in the far east and in the middle east there are many sail-powered cargo boats. Junks in the far east and dhows in the middle east.
Regards,
Dan
Actually, all cargo ships prior to about 1806 (first practical steam powered vessels) were sailboats… However, to answer your question… yes, there are cargo sailboats, and saiboats that can be easily converted to carry cargo… (well, strick that word “easily”)… lol
First of all, one needs to know a bit more specifically what you mean when you say “a few tons”… is that “few” as in 2, 3, 4, or is that a few as in 20, 30, 40, etc. ? (only to each his own – is everything revelant).
However, having done an awful lot of boating and fishing in Canada, and being a bit familiar with what goes on… might I suggest your friend look into building his own “cargo sailboat”. I would suggest going to GlenL.com – they for one, have plans on a pontoon (catamaran) vessel that can be easily adapted to sail… (I know, I have done it.) The plans are for what they call “Mark Twain”. Point is, the plans can be easily adapted… In our case, we extended the hulls (two) to 60′ each… we also upgraded the size lumber used for structural beams and support, and even added lateral steel beam bow to stern. We used full size 4′x8′ plywood for side planking the hulls, (which gave us 3’6″ of bridge deck clearance… and we added a very small pilot house and huge sloop and positioned mast. Bottom line: We are sailing a 16′ x 52′ (52′ not 60′ because bow hulls extend 8′ forward of platform) flat platform that can carry 8 tons of cargo… our cargo is mostly all lumber… which we take out (across the Gulf Stream) to Caribbean islands for builders building small cabins for fly-in vacationers and fishing trips.
So… check it out… A Wharram designed catamaran could also be easily built or converted… and in either case, I would suggest a catamarin design… but then again… depending on what you are doing, how far you are taking it… the whole idea may not be feasable at all. Basically ours is much like a pontoon boat with sails… only our “pontoons” are 4′ in height plus a 6″ keel that tapers aft to 18″ at stern and on top of the “pontoons” we have a 3″ steel I-beam that runs bow to stern with a 4×4 bolted to the top of the ibeam. And our cross beam are 16′ 2×6″ with 1″ decking.
There are lots of sailing ships in Canada capable of carrying cargo.
He should contact a broker who sells commercial vessels.
V
I just read a brief note in Sail Magazine about a 400ft container ship that set sail from Germany to Venezuela in January08 with a huge parachute type sail (they’re about $375,000plus). The article mentioned they can save up to 50% in fuel however the costs also involve having a trained crew.