Types of old sail windmills

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Many are familiar with the typical tower-built sail windmill from postcards. There are seldom tower-shaped mills without a gondola (revolving mill head). The gondolas did not turn freely, but had to be turned into the wind using physical strength with levers.

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Mill designs without a gondola were mostly built in the form of a horseshoe. Historically they are older and were built in the main wind direction. If this direction is still right today, these mills could also be retrofitted with SAILWIND.

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A sailing windmill in tower design with a standard design gondola is more interesting for SAILWIND, as it can be retrofitted with a motorized gondola that rotates into the wind (yaw). This increases the effectiveness of the wind turbine enormously.