Wind propulsion for commercial ships has been identified as a key component in the energy transition for the maritime industry. The sailing hybrid ship will operate with leeway (drift) angles to produce a lateral force known as sideforce, for steady operation under sail. In this paper, experimental results for the sailing performance of ships fitted with bilge keel appendages are presented. Systematic variations in appendage height, length, and position were tested, including several special cases (multiple bilge keels). The appendage typology is shown to mitigate the strong ‘destabilizing’ yaw moment that is characteristic of wind-assisted commercial vessels and to promote the non-linear sideforce component. The working principal for bilge keels—promotion of flow separation—can be employed to specify the separation location for components of the vessel vortex wake to improve the sailing performance of the ship.

商业船舶的风力推进已被确定为海事行业能源转型的关键组成部分。航行混合动力船将以回旋（漂移）角操作，以产生称为侧向力的侧向力，以在航行中稳定运行。本文介绍了装有舱底龙骨附件的船舶航行性能的实验结果。测试了附件高度，长度和位置的系统变化，包括几种特殊情况（多种舱底龙骨）。附肢类型学已显示出减轻了风力辅助商业船所特有的强大的“不稳定”偏航力矩，并促进了非线性侧向力分量。