This paper reviews the present state of the art on self rectifying air turbines, which could be used for wave energy conversion. The overall performances of the turbines under irregular wave conditions, which typically occur in the sea, have been evaluated numerically and compared from the viewpoints of their starting and running characteristics. The types of turbine included in the paper are: (a) Wells turbine with guide vanes (WTGV); (b) turbine with self-pitch-controlled blades (TSCB); (c) biplane Wells turbine with guide vanes (BWGV); (d) impulse turbine with self-pitch-controlled guide vanes (ISGV); and (e) impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes (IFGV). As a result, under irregular wave conditions, it is found that the running and starting characteristics of impulse type turbines could be superior to those of the Wells turbine. Moreover, the authors have explained the mechanism of the hysteretic behavior of the Wells turbine and the necessity of links for improvement of the performance of the ISGV. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.