I used to be a naval architect, and I completely agree with you. This type of design is extremely inefficient for cargo delivery. I think it is unrealistic to expect to be able to even remotely compete with diesel cargo ships. As another commenter said, the crew are in fact paying passengers (I have not verified this) which means this is actually a cruise ship, which makes a lot more sense. It must be a great experience.
In my mind, the only way sailing ships can come back as work boats is if a way is found to make them nearly automatic and space efficient. In my mind this means large steel ships, not dissimilar to regular cargo ships, but with automated kite sails (e.g. https://skysails-marine.com/) as they do not tend to tip the ship over like regular sails do.
leohart|2 years ago
jfoucher|2 years ago