Sure, the technology/design of these sails may be novel, but it feels a bit silly to be in awe of a new way to use sails to propel boats currently driven entirely by internal combustion engines. What will we think of next—a new way to use rivers to drive mills?
I think the recent innovations in sail technology on commercial ships have less to do with the fact that they use the wind, and more to do with the fact that they're now more reliable and easier to operate. Using traditional sails might have saved just as much fuel, but would have required a large crew always on call to operate the sails. For large cargo ships, you'd probably have to double the crew size, which is extremely expensive. Now the deck officers can control the sails and almost everything can be automated.
I had the opposite feeling: how had nobody yet thought of utilizing sails to improve fuel efficiency for these huge cargo ships?
I don't know much of ships and their fuel consumption, but I would guess that any percentage point of fuel saving would quickly add up to a significant cost reduction
