:picard: you forgot the fan micah.
Real question is, what is the MPG?
Yay! Use a windmill to convert wind power to electricity to power the fan to move the boat forward!
Anyways, I give myself a 1 week self ban! 
kpg
knots per gallon
im going with the electric motor that you usually have as a back up.
it moves now.
nmpg isn’t it… nautical miles per gallon?
knot is a measurement of speed.
The Rube Goldberg solution to the energy crisis?
WHAT THE FUCK
lol, newton must have been out sick that day
I almost want to discount that video as the frictional force on the wheels is nothing compared to the force of water on the hull. The car moves pretty slow, and I am not sure of what a boat would do.
Post another video using the appropriate scenario.
“To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts.”
Can’t see the video at work, but:
Ever seen thrust reverser on the old jets? I think between the sail and the fan you can get the same effect going. it is less efficient that just pointing the fan backwards,but it could generate some thrust.
Was it on wheels though? It looked to me that it was on some kind of low-friction surface and it slid atop it.
It’s a glide. The surface of that rail has holes in it that have air pumped through them to reduce friction. Pretty much like an air hockey table.
:io:
^Hahaha, god damn it!
The reason that small scale model is working is because the “sail” is so close to the fan that it is pretty much just redirecting the wind for it. In this case, a higher percentage of wind is redirected in the opposite direction, giving it a slight foward propulsion.
It really doesn’t matter how low friction it was. If it’s a boat it may not move very fast but it will move, which is certainly not what most of us thought. The analogy of the jet ski reverse thruster is a good one.
What we’re forgetting to account for is the air that reflects back off the sail and creates wind blowing the opposite direction of the fan, AKA, THRUST.
I was just contesting tpgsr’s statement about it being on wheels.
so who wants to submit this to mythbusters?
:io: