A (train of) parasail(s) as AWES ?

[PierreB]

@PierreB

@PierreB

Cd variation is demonstrated and looks to increase linearly (not exponentially) with the decrease of the sink rate by a lower load

It is reasonable to think that the same would be true for parasails: decrease in Cd when wind speed increases. In any case, this is what a research group tried to demonstrate:

https://eng-web1.eng.famu.fsu.edu/me/senior_design/2007/team4/Analysis_&_Results.html

@PierreB

A likely reason for this is that the drag coefficient seemed to decrease as wind speed increased.

This seems to be confirmed for some recovery parachutes on Experimental Characterization of Drag Coefficient of an UAV Recovery Parachute, Vu Dinh Quy, Le Thi Tuyet Nhung*, Tran Minh Duy Dat
Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam, figures 6 and 8.

After dropping the Cd seems to be stable (even when the wind speed is still increasing) as shown in figures 6 and 8.