One of the main outcomes of the research on wingsails performed so far has been a new "mantra" that I now repeat myself every time I start working on the project:
« The Magellan Machine is all about reliability, not performance. »
It might sound silly, but aerodynamics is all about performance optimisation and it is easy (at least for me) to be carried away by the idea of a custom-built, 50-knots-capable, hydrofoils-suspended, twin-winged, all-composite, custom-built trimaran. Yet, all we need is "just" a sturdy and reliable boat able to sail on its own for months: our goal - after all - is to build the first robot to circumnavigate the planet, not the fastest.
