Bodach na mara
Well-known member
I see that some organisation is seeking to make its wind farms no-sail areas after one turbine shed its blades. One of the areas lies off the Lincolnshire coast.
Could wind farms become prohibited areas?
- Thread starter Bodach na mara
- Start date
ctva
Well-known member
Do you have a link?
westhinder
Well-known member
Offshore Wind Accident: Orsted Asks for 'No-Sail Zones' After Turbine Breaks Into Sea
For the record: all the wind farms off the Belgian coast and some, not all, off the Dutch coast are ‘no sail zones’
For the record: all the wind farms off the Belgian coast and some, not all, off the Dutch coast are ‘no sail zones’
savageseadog
Well-known member
Interesting. I've recently been through one of the Liverpool wind farms, we had very close proximity to a number of turbines. I noticed a number of out of action turbines , one turbine with a missing blade and a couple of other turbines without blades altogether. We did wonder if there was storm damage.
Bodach na mara
Well-known member
Thanks for that. I was trying to paste in a link using my phone and failing.
Stemar
Well-known member
What about onshore wind farms? Are hikers to be banished from them too?
I get that they may not want errant yotties bouncing off the poles, but our hope for keeping the lights on in the future falling apart like that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
I get that they may not want errant yotties bouncing off the poles, but our hope for keeping the lights on in the future falling apart like that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
DJE
Well-known member
"But as a precautionary measure, Orsted is requesting authories establish temporary ‘no-sail zones’ at other wind farms using the same turbines as the one that failed. "
Seems like closing a lot of sea because of a very small risk. Presumably the turbine service craft will still be operating and spending a lot more time close to the turbines than any yacht does.
ctva
Well-known member
Wind turbines were never going to keep the lights on, sometimes yes but not all the time.
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
This site is very interesting. It looks like wind has accounted for about 30%-40% or demand for the last 6 months or so.
Sandy
Well-known member
I'm not brave enough to sail into a wind farm at anytime. Has anyone ventured in?
Sitting in the seat next to aircraft propellers is another thing I avoid.
Sitting in the seat next to aircraft propellers is another thing I avoid.
savageseadog
Well-known member
I've done it plenty of times, racing as well
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
I note that the aircraft I've flown in on survey operations in the polar regions have a black line painted on the fuselage to indicate the plane of the propeller disc. I don't like the idea of being in line with the propeller disc, either.
bedouin
Well-known member
You really think if a propeller disintegrated it would matter where in the plane you were sitting?
tillergirl
Well-known member
There is an 'official' avenue through the London Array Wind Farm so Foulger's Gat could continue to be used by yachts. Some do and don't mind, some do and don't like it, a significant number go round (adding a couple of miles). A club member here who has sailed the Pacific thought the avenue was rather 'oppressive'. There has been one damaged blade on one turbine that hasn't been repaired for a couple of years.
Juan Twothree
Well-known member
When the first offshore windfarms were built, one of the hazards we were warned about was that the clearance from the blade tips to the sea was slightly less than the height of a large yacht's mast. Which I found somewhat surprising.
I know that the early turbines were a lot smaller than the more recent ones, but I have no idea whether or not that was ever true.
Not having had a large yacht that close to a turbine, I've never had the opportunity to find out.
I know that the early turbines were a lot smaller than the more recent ones, but I have no idea whether or not that was ever true.
Not having had a large yacht that close to a turbine, I've never had the opportunity to find out.
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
Yes, I do, in this case. Twin Otters are remarkably robust and are not pressurized, and I don't think the disintegration of a propeller would destroy the airframe unless you were very unlucky - it would easily pass through the skin of the aircraft, but unless it hit a longeron, it wouldn't destroy the girder integrity (given the agricultural nature of the build of Twin Otters, I think it might survive that!). As with most twin-engined aircraft, they can fly on one engine, and as the stall speed is something silly - around 50 or 60 knots - they can land on very short (and often unprepared) ground. We used to reckon that you could do a vertical take-off with a strong headwind, and I've certainly done take-off runs of less than a 100 m.
jamie N
Well-known member
Generally, the turbine blade radius won't extend below the maximum extended height of the crane on the working platform in order to avoid any interference.
johnalison
Well-known member
I have sailed through a couple, in the Thames and south of Falster, where the approved channel was marked on the pillars by neat red/green discs. There is loads of space between the turbines and my impression is that I am at a rather greater risk from them than they are from me. In Falster we found the wind shadow to extend a considerable distance, maybe five miles. I would be OK going through in fog with radar but perhaps not without.
LittleSister
Well-known member
I've been though them, including at night, a number of times without any problem all.
In the windfarms I've been through the normal spacing between the pylons leave plenty of room for anyone who can handle a boat in the proximity of buoys, other boats, rocks, etc. etc., while the air draught clearance is a complete non-issue for any boat I'm likely to be in, and even in other cases is only at all limited in close proximity to each pylon.
The width of the buoyed and lit boat channel through Foulger's Gat in the Thames seems, if anything, excessive (though might seem less so in wild conditions, but then going round might be a preferable option.
Close up I find them sort of unattractive, but also rather intriguing, especially when the pylons are coming in and out of visual alignment as one passes through, and sometimes rather atmospheric.
In the windfarms I've been through the normal spacing between the pylons leave plenty of room for anyone who can handle a boat in the proximity of buoys, other boats, rocks, etc. etc., while the air draught clearance is a complete non-issue for any boat I'm likely to be in, and even in other cases is only at all limited in close proximity to each pylon.
The width of the buoyed and lit boat channel through Foulger's Gat in the Thames seems, if anything, excessive (though might seem less so in wild conditions, but then going round might be a preferable option.
Close up I find them sort of unattractive, but also rather intriguing, especially when the pylons are coming in and out of visual alignment as one passes through, and sometimes rather atmospheric.
johnalison
Well-known member
Yes, there is something about their regularity that grates, like the moire effect one sometimes gets from railings when driving past. Individually, they have a kind of elegance, but I can’t think of them as being beautiful. This is compounded by my suspicion of their desirability. Without wanting to get into controversial areas, it is just a matter of whether the money best spent that way. They have certainly changed the nature of sailing between our East Coast and the other lot. My consolation is that in a few hundred years time there won’t be much left, though some fishermen might need to be careful, not that there will be any fish.