Rotor ship#Uses today

The Uni- Kat Flensburg is a catamaran with a Flettner rotor as the drive that was with students led by Professor Lutz Fiesser within the PROA project developed and built at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry and its didactics at the University of Flensburg. The project was the development and technical implementation of a large model ship for demonstrating the Flettner rotor drive. The naming ceremony took place on the Flensburg Nautic 2006.

Construction

The boat is 6.1 meters long and 4.5 meters wide and is built as a catamaran with two hulls. It is a Proa, which is a type of ship from the South Seas, in which the tail can become a bug. The vessel has no conventional sail, but is fitted with a Flettner rotor. The rotor consists of a plane defined on a frame polyester film which has been reinforced by aluminum strips. A solar-powered electric motor causes the rotor to move. Too low wind speeds, a small electric outboard motor drives the ship.