Whether you're planning on setting a new personal best around the Nürburgring or heading out for a nice meal, Michelin is your friend. However, the company that produces tires and rates world-class restaurants decided to venture into another new and exciting market. This time around, Michelin took to the high seas.
Its latest innovation has been dubbed Wisamo, a name that combines 'Wing Sail' and 'Mobility,' slightly cluing you in on the project's goals and ambitions. Michelin's gift to the seafaring world is a fully inflatable, retractable, and automated wing sail suitable for a wide variety of craft, including tankers, bulkers, yachts — you name it. Wisamo is designed to be incredibly easy to use, adapting to current conditions completely autonomously, while working to reduce greenhouse emissions, improve fuel consumption, and increase profitability.
One of Wisamo's key benefits is that it's fully retractable, so for low bridges or packed ports, it can be completely lowered. It's easy to use too, with push-button solutions built in, minimal required training, and no crew needed for standard operation.
In a world where automakers are developing electric cars for every segment, ranging from superminis to supercars, it seems more than unusual that the same isn't happening in the nautical world, too. Michelin is here to fill the gap, not with electric motors, but with its wingsail. It's reported that Wisamo can reduce fuel consumption by up to 20% for each vessel it's used on, and the sheer scope of vessels that Wisamo is compatible with is impressive.
Michelin first tested he concept in 2021 on French sailor Michel Desjoyeaux's sailboat out at Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland, with a 100-square-meter prototype of the wingsail. The second phase of testing occurred during the winter in the Bay of Biscay, where conditions were rough. From there, tests were conducted on commercial ships, with experts logging vital data to ensure the revolutionary wingsail delivered on its promises and worked as it should. Wisamo has also partnered with Novem Nautical Design and JFA Yachts to produce a super sleek 60-foot yacht with the wingsail as a key feature.
As is key to the Wisamo wingsail's design, it can fully retract and disappear below deck when required. Not only is Michelin looking to introduce a new era of eco-friendly travel to the nautical world, but it's doing it in both a stylish and practical manner, too, giving every reason for others to assume this will be as successful as most other Michelin endeavors.
