Reports of Sail Freight’s Demise Have Been Mildly Exaggerated
by Vermont Rice
I am amazed by the number and the inspired nature of colleagues we at VSFP did not know we had.
Take a look at New Dawn Traders , a fellow startup based in England and aspiring to trade the old slave triangle route, wisely renaming it the “freedom triangle,” with an emphasis on environmental stewardship and fair trade.
Also Consider Sailing Cargo Ship Company, another startup based in Nova Scotia and slated to start up next month. What a stunning vessel they are using. Imagine a new global trade network comprised of inland and inshore trading boats like the Vermont Sail Freight Project’s sailing barge, meeting and trading in a busy port with tall ships from across the sea. And here is what gives me the most hope that I’ll see such a thing in the near future: The way we trade and transport now is just way too costly, on so many levels.
The title of this post comes from a Freakonomics article that’s a few years old now but I think they had it right! Of course the original quote comes from our fellow inland cargo sailor, Mark Twain, who said that reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated upon hearing that his obituary had been published in New York. The same guy also said, quite aptly for contemporary sail freight ventures. “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”
I like the idea, and some of the designs look pretty good so far. But have you ever tried sailing on the Hudson? I’ve been up and down there probably a dozen times on sailing vessels, and very rarely has there been any wind to speak of.
I have to say I haven’t personally, though some of the people I’m working with have. Fickleness of the wind is certainly part of the game. It helps that we know it’s been done before, even with this type of vessel fully laden. The nonperishable nature of the cargo will hopefully allow us to be as patient as the assignment requires.
Gaff-rigged SV Kwai (https://sites.google.com/site/sailcargo/) has been motor-sailing the Hawaii South Pacific route for a number of years, quite successfully.
Gaff ketch Tiare Toporo (http://pacificschooners.com) is launching soon to motor-sail primarily the Solomon Islands and is being run, in part (I think), by the same group who manage the tall ship Picton Castle.
B9 Shipping (http://www.b9energy.com/B9Shipping/tabid/4036/language/en-US/Default.aspx) is building 3,000ton-deadweight biogas / Dynarig sail container vessels.
Tres Hombres (http://svtreshombres.homestead.com/) is an operating cargo brigantine (squares’l fore, gaff mizzen) and /has/no/engine/.
Fair Transport (http://www.fairtransport.eu/) is working with Dykstra naval architects to build some 8,000-ton deadweight motor-sail (Dynarig) container vessels.
The Greenheart Project (http://www.greenheartproject.org/en/) is designing and building a motor-sail (weird semi-gaff stays’l) hybrid (single) container ship / RORO / landing craft.
Indeed, sail freight is not only not dead, it’s on the rise! 🙂