Control method for a wind propulsion device on a vessel

A method for controlling a system of magnus rotors arranged on a vessel, comprising:

• optimizing control parameters of each magnus rotor in the system by:
• providing pressure information related to different areas of a cross section from a first pressure sensor arranged on a surface of each magnus rotor at a first height H1 with respect to a deck of the vessel;
• estimating a pressure distribution on the surface of each magnus rotor based on the pressure information from the first pressure sensor;
• and
• using the estimated pressure distribution as a feedback in a closed-loop control method to optimize the control parameters of each magnus rotor;
• and
• optimizing a total efficiency of each magnus rotor using the closed-loop control method by taking into account an interaction between each magnus rotor by measuring individual differences in performance;
• and
• wherein each magnus rotor is arranged at a different position on the vessel with respect to a length of the vessel.

A vessel comprising at least two magnus rotors, the at least two magnus rotors each comprising a first pressure sensor, wherein the first pressure sensor is arranged on a surface of each of the at least two magnus rotors at a first height H1 with respect to a deck of the vessel, and the vessel is configured to each of the at least two magnus rotors by:

• providing pressure information related to different areas of a cross section from a first pressure sensor arranged on a surface of each of the at least two magnus rotors at a first height H1 with respect to a deck of the vessel;
• estimating a pressure distribution on the surface of each of the at least two magnus rotors based on the pressure information from the first pressure sensor;
• and
• using the estimated pressure distribution as a feedback in a closed-loop control method to optimize control parameters of each of the at least two magnus rotors.