The Wings of change
Imagine
A world where you can bend the power of the wind with your fingertips. One of nature’s greatest forces can be shaped to deliver as much energy as you need while keeping you in complete control. Aquaforce Australia through its wingsail program has taken the technology of aircraft wings along with man’s ancient seafaring skills and combined these two elements with carbon fibre, super computer (CFD) analysis and AI to develop a revolutionary change in the way we go to sea.
Since humans first hauled on a sail to use wind power thousands of years ago, we have strived to improve the efficiency of catching enough energy to power us along the waterways of the world while always in dread of the disastrous consequences of being caught out with too much sail area or too much wind. Nature is a wild and unpredictable force.
By combining the latest in composite materials with the power of super computers Aquaforce has developed a wingsail that will automatically adjust to give you total control of your vessel without having to alter sail settings, reef sails or fear the consequences of getting caught out in a gale. At the same time the wingsail will add stability, reduce fuel consumption dramatically and remove the need for human exertion while still enjoying all the benefits of being at sea.
Aquaforce's wing shape is recognised as the optimum wing shape for winged vessels. Similar to Americas Cup and Grand Prix foiling catamarans this NACA wing/flap combination is the gold star when it comes to wings on the water. Our adaption is a path well trodden in maritime development. The Americas Cup has always led the way in cutting edge sailing technology and the 3 dimensional wing concept has been proven by these great racing machines. Aquaforce is progressing the innovation into the mainstream and taking the technology to the broad spectrum of the maritime industry.
But we're not just innovators. Since its inception, Aquaforce has strived to achieve great results by giving every one our people a free hand to think laterally. There is no such thing as a mistake in this company. Mistakes are just opportunities to make things better. This culture turns adversity into problem solving and fun. At Aquaforce we are all on the same side and this flows through all our associations.
Collaborations
And we are not on our own. We are currently working with the University of New South Wales and RMIT in Melbourne on a number of projects including research to quantify the amount of fuel savings and corresponding reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that are achievable with our wingsails. This means that vessels engaged in various activities in Australian and international waters will be able to identify just how much they will be able to reduce their carbon foot print and improve their bottom line with the use of the Aquaforce wingsail.
In 2025 we signed on our first intern from RMIT. Sam Davey was in the final year of an engineering degree, and worked successfully on a project to upgrade the wingsail's drive train system. The upgraded system design has been installed in our prototype vessel with excellent results. UNSW supplied Aquaforce with two interns over summer. Toby St John and Luca Brighenti have delivered a great result in running the circuitry for the prototype, developing software and running checks for all on board systems.
So far we have over 10,000 hours of R&D time committed to our program by our people and the collaborations with Australian universities, with much more to come.