Boat.
Midships are wheels.
They are in the figure eight on each side. This means a forward motion on the top of the top wheel invokes a forward motion on the bottom of the bottom.
Giant squaresail
The boat is motivated by giant fans that sit atop the top wheel, aim forwards and are activated at the top half of the rotation. The fans blow forward into the sails.
Thus the fans push the lower wheel through the water with paddles.
And they blow onto the square sail which pushes the boat forwards.
Doldrums smoldrums.-- mylodon, Feb 02 2024 Ditch the sails, per [pocmloc] https://youtu.be/EK...si=6EXpEpiWD4Y4mbraSeems to work, very inefficient, slow. [minoradjustments, Feb 02 2024] Blow Your Own Sail https://youtu.be/M7...si=Zq7y2YQLdlEHkc2B [Skewed, Mar 18 2024] All wheels aside .. I suspect they're just random window dressing.
[an effort to confuse the casual unwary reader?]
Fans? attached to boat blow forward into sails also attached to boat, to engender forward motion?
Are you deliberately fishing for something [mylo]?
A particular type of 'fish' perhaps?-- Skewed, Feb 02 2024 You could have just a mast, and then get the crew to push really hard on the mast to push the boat forward.-- pocmloc, Feb 02 2024 What is the advantage, even if it worked, which is still TBD?
Anyway, I’m going to hoist on my belt loops and get back up on the roof to watch the boat races.-- minoradjustments, Feb 02 2024 I like that [poc] ;)-- Skewed, Feb 02 2024 //just a mast//
Use a mastless barge with the fans on and put a boat with sales in front of it, use a long rope to pull the barge back up to the boat when it gets too far behind for the barge fans to have much effect?-- Skewed, Feb 02 2024 //with sales in front of it// I suppose the crowds of customers pressing forwards towards the bargains could be quite a powerful motive force.-- pocmloc, Feb 02 2024 Yep, it's the waves generated as they fall off the dock like lemmings in their rush towards the boat ;)-- Skewed, Feb 02 2024 This is not a pushing the mast deal. This would actually go forward. The feet of the sailors would be in the water not on the deck.-- mylodon, Feb 03 2024 A mast is traditionally anchored firmly in the deck, I'm not seeing anything in your description to suggest otherwise, or more specifically any linkage of any description between the mast with sail and the wheels or any other element to provide any motion of anything not achieved by 'pushing against the mast'.
You have 'fans blow wind at sails' (no suggestion of the motive force for them mind) but that's where it ends, your wheel assembly is just sat there like some pointless modern art installation with no connection to anything and no suggestion how it might be powered as far as I see from what you've written thus far.
If this isn't just meaningless flummery I think you need to extensively rethink your description [mylo].
Are the bottom wheels supposed to be paddles? what drives the fan? what drives the wheels? what is the point of the fans blowing into the sail if not to push against the mast? at present you just have a bunch of seemingly unconnected elements none of which provide any persuasive forward momentum for the boat.-- Skewed, Feb 03 2024 I’ve hoisted myself up on the roof and I’m watching the Mylodon Miracle being towed to the starting line. All systems GO and the flag comes down! Conveniently, the vectors involved in distributing the forces are shown in huge arrows so the viewer can see what the delta is between standing still and moving forward as a graphic display. Oh wow! The fans are spinning and at first the sail filled! There was a hint of forward motion. Then the arrows showed that the air that was taken from the rear and pushed forward at the sail was exactly balanced by the reverse impulse communicated to the boat through the fan base. Newton strikes again. The sail hangs limp as a wet towel and the boat is not moving.
I grab my belt loops and make the long jump into town for a beer.-- minoradjustments, Feb 03 2024 random, halfbakery