Development of autonomous sailboat sails and future perspectives: A review

Zhaoyang Sun, Ao Feng, Jiancheng Yu, Wentao Zhao and Yan Huang

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025, vol. 207, issue C

Abstract: Autonomous sailboats are a new type of long-endurance marine robots driven by marine renewable energy. They convert wind energy into driving force through sails. The aerodynamic performance and automatic control convenience of the sails significantly affect the sailing performance of autonomous sailboats. The sails of autonomous sailboats have evolved through three stages: traditional flexible sails, balanced rig with flexible sails, and rigid wingsails. Flap wingsails, self-trimming wingsails, and wingsails designed for specific conditions have been developed based on rigid wingsails. While autonomous sailboats typically use one sail, two or more sails can also be used. This review discusses the different configurations of autonomous sailboat sails, along with their advantages and disadvantages, key technologies, and research methods. It summarizes the features and technologies of autonomous sailboat sails that need further investigation, such as high strength, lightweight construction, multifunctional integration, interchangeable modularity, self-diagnostic intelligence, and deformable adaptability. Computational fluid dynamics simulations and wind tunnel tests will continue to be the primary methods for studying sail aerodynamic performance.

Keywords: Autonomous sailboat; Traditional flexible sail; Rigid wingsail; Self-trimming wingsail; Wingsail with flap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.114918

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