Wind power is now the world's fastest growing energy source. It is well known that energy production depends on the shape of the thruster (sail of yacht or a blade) and on the wind characteristics on a given site. The objective of this study is to maximize the performances of a thruster by optimizing the most important aerodynamic design parameters. One of the most important challenges in aerodynamics is to accurately predict the forces acting on the thruster, where the thruster is modeled by different approaches such as the lifting line theory, where the application of the vortex filament method for the thruster performances is used. To have an optimal thruster, the elliptical lift distribution is the key design principle for the airfoils forming the thruster sections. The main purpose is to optimize the aerodynamic design of a thruster to increase its performances under wind action. The optimization carried out with computer codes for the design and analysis of a thruster, based on the non linear lifting line theory, shows that an optimal thruster is to be formed by airfoils placed along the span in a decreasing law of thickness. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.