Affection of meteorological variables to energy consumption of sailing vessels

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of the weather variables on the consumption of energy of the sailing vessels. The first part of the study aims to illustrate the theoretical background which is available on the literature on the sailing vessels structural features, the navigation methods and the aerodynamics. In addition, an overview of the marine meteorology along with a calculation method for wind power based on the wind speed and sailing area are presented. Furthermore, an assessment of the energy consumption of the sailing vessels supported with actual data recorded during real-time navigations. Moreover, the study focuses on 11 different scenarios of navigation along a complex sailing route considering a specific type of vessel suitable for resort purposes. For each different scenario, a series of technical features - such as vessel speed, total duration of navigation route, total fuel and energy consumption - is examined and illustrated in graphic charts. Finally, certain conclusions are listed which derive from combining the findings of the above parametric study