Turbosail

In 1980, Jacque-Yves Cousteau envisioned a ship with a modern engine that would be supplied with energy by the wind, a clean, free and renewable energy source. Cousteau, Professor Lucien Malavard and Dr. Bertrand Charrier, utilised a cylinder that looked similar to a smokestack and worked like an airplane wing. A movable shutter and system of fan-drawn ideas improved the productivty of this new sail. This was the turbosail.

The invention was first tried on a Moulin à Vent (Windmill). Cousteau and his team sailed  from Tangier to New York, however with strong winds, the turbosail collapsed.

In 1985, Cousteau launched his new wind ship, Alcyone which had two turbosails installed. Alcyone was successful.

“The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man, it is to know that and to wonder at it.” – Jacques-Yves Cousteau