3119: Flettner Rotor
| Flettner Rotor |
 Title text: "And in maritime news, the Coast Guard is on the scene today after an apparent collision between two lighthouses." |
Explanation[edit]
This is another one of Randall’s tips. Randall is pointing out that a Flettner rotor can make a boat look like a lighthouse, and thus make other boats avoid it. A vertical-axis Flettner rotor is a smooth cylinder which is spun along its axis. As air passes across it from the side, an aerodynamic force is generated at a right angle (i.e., forward) to propel the boat in the desired direction.
As a tall vertical cylinder, the rotor has the approximate appearance of the column of a stereotypical lighthouse. If a directional light were attached at the top, it too would spin, sending out periodic flashes of light and making it even more similar to a lighthouse. Or, as it appears to be in the comic, a fully working lantern house could be fixed to the top of the non-rotating core to the rotor, making it look even more like a lighthouse (and also allowing independent control of the light's flash rate).
To people on a vessel directly in the path of the disguised boat, it would appear that they are sailing or drifting towards a hazard, prompting them to take action to navigate away from it, thereby clearing its course. In fact, there would be no need to have a Flettner rotor at all to achieve this effect — a simple, non-rotating column with a rotating or flashing light would do just the same thing for a boat that is powered by other means, and seems a small additional effort if you're already taking the trouble to install the fake rocks and light.
The title text describes "an apparent collision between two lighthouses", which could refer to two Flettnerized boats colliding with each other because they were both assuming that everyone else will give them the right of way. Alternatively, a single Flettnerized boat could complacently collide with an actual lighthouse, having similarly dismissed it as another boat that should have taken avoidance measures. This alludes to an old urban legend in which a naval vessel insists that another radio operator at sea divert course to avoid a collision, demanding right of way by citing their military rank, only to be embarrassed when the other operator reveals they are not another sea vessel, but a lighthouse.
Transcript[edit]
- [A panel showing Cueball standing on a Flettner Rotor Sailboat, which is decorated with rocks and a lighthouse-top on the Flettner Rotor.]
- [Text beneath panel:]
- Sailing tip: If you have a Flettner Rotor Sailboat, you can add some fake plastic rocks and a light to make other boats give you the right of way.
Trivia[edit]
Technically, Randall is wrong to say "...give you the right of way" - this isn't how the maritime "rules of the road" work. The other vessel could give way to the Flettner craft, but not give it right of way, as that's given by an international convention and not by individual ships. Also, one doesn't give way to lighthouses because they have right of way. There's nothing in common maritime law that explicitly says one has to give way to lighthouses. The closest thing would be the STCW convention, but it only uses phrases such as "Navigate with due care" and doesn't explicitly say "give way to lighthouses".
To be more pedantic, under the international convention mentioned above, neither ship ever has a right of way: one ship has an obligation to give way, while the other ship has an obligation to stand-on (i.e., keep its current course and speed until the ships are past one another). If the ships collide, both are held responsible. Navigators are very clear that the "right of way" of a car doesn't apply at sea, and one always has many obligations, including obligations to give way under certain circumstances even when you're the stand-on vessel.
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You don't actually need the rocks to dress up as a lightship, which is unfortunately not a spacecraft moving at relativistic speeds. 90.155.35.67 20:01, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- And it also is not a ship that is light lol TheTrainsKid (talk) 20:08, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- This is probably inspired by the Lighthouse and Naval Vessel Urban Legend. 128.187.112.68 20:55, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- Already linked that, myself. Though not so sure it's a direct inspiration, only an interesting onward read (which is how I chose to link it).
- (Also, top tip: note the use of the {{w}} method to wikilinking it, much more efficient, in the form you might have used it, and slightly more aesthetic.) 82.132.247.118 21:01, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
Not sure why there's commentary about anchored vessels - the comic doesn't reference them, nor claim that it would make _every_ vessel give you right of way? 91.84.189.119 21:47, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
- Agree - removed it, and clarified the rest of that sentence a bit. 82.13.184.33 16:22, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
Would a Flettner rotor with a truncated cone shape like in the picture actually work? 46.162.122.132 22:25, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
Ah, that's what those are on Danish ferries.62.220.2.194 11:07, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
Won't add it to the page because I fear it might be too insufferably pedantic - but here it is just in case! Randall is wrong to say "...give you the right of way" - this isn't how the maritime Rules of the Road work. The other vessel could *give way* to the Flettner craft - but not give it *right* of way: right of way is given by international convention (specifically the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collision at Sea (COLREGS)), not by individual ships.
To be considerably more pendantic: you don't give way to lighthouses because they have right of way. There's nothing in maritime law (at least, not in the working knowledge a sailor would possess) that explicitly says you have to give way to lighthouses. The closest thing I can think of is the STCW convention but as far as I'm aware even that just uses phrases like "Navigate with due care" and doesn't explicitly say "give way to lighthouses".
To be even more pendantic still: under the COLREGS neither ship ever has a right of way - one ship has an obligation to give way and the other ship has an obligation to stand-on (ie. keep her current course and speed until the ships are past one another) and if the ships collide both are held responsible under maritime law. Navigators are very, very clear about drilling into their Officers of the Watch that you never have "right of way" like you would in a car and you always have many obligations under the COLREGS, including obligations to give way under certain circumstances even when you're the stand-on vessel.--80.189.28.58 23:10, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
- The same technicality applies for cars: your "right of way" is what allows you to use a public road. You "yield your right of way" or "give way" when you encounter other traffic that has priority. 2A0B:E541:E99:0:1A4D:8EA:E34D:5053 09:04, 27 August 2025 (UTC)
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