Uni-Kat Flensburg
The Uni-Kat Flensburg is a catamaran with a Flettner rotor as a drive, which was developed and built at the Institute for Physics and Chemistry and its Didactics at the University of Flensburg with students under the direction of Lutz Fiesser as part of the PROA project. The project served the development and technical realization of a large model ship to demonstrate the Flettner rotor drive. The ship was christened at Flensburg Nautics 2006.
construction
The ship is 6.1 meters long and 4.5 meters wide and is built as a catamaran with two hulls. It's a Proa , a type of ship from the South Seas, where the stern can become the bow. The ship has no conventional sails , but is equipped with a Flettner rotor . The rotor consists of a polyester film that is stretched over a frame and reinforced with aluminum tires. A solar-powered electric motor sets the rotor in motion. When the wind speed is too weak, a small electric outboard motor drives the ship.