Rise of the Windjammers?

I found this New Scientist article on the new designs for sail-assisted cargo ships; from enormous kites (poetic beyond belief, and easy to retrofit) to airfoil sails, there is reason for optimism.

A more comprehensive story is from a 2006 report on naval shipping to Congress, which mentioned, much to my amazement, a sailing catamaran as a naval possibility. For a novel, I'd been toying around with the idea of a modern sailing catamaran, wicked fast and without engines or metal, as an anti-submarine boat. How would even a high tech sub, geared entirely for the acoustical and heat signature of engines, and metal hulls, attack a big catamaran doing 35 knots in racing tacks, armed with a modern torpedo?

What's been missing from modern ships? I was slightly amazed when Captain Richard agreed with me: a design which is far more sensitive to the hull's total relationship with the sea. A return to sail would go a long way to redressing this.

Note to naval architects- this would be a lot more convincing if you learned to paint.