An innovative design for the Troposkien concept is introduced by means of an advanced chord distribution, computed using the WOMBAT (Weatherly Optimization Method for Blades of Air Turbines) algorithm for the performance optimization of vertical axis wind turbines. Five rotor blade architectures, characterized by a constant value of the thickness-to-chord ratio and a varying chord length along the blade span, are evaluated. The optimization process is conducted with respect to the power coefficient for a target wind speed of 9 m/s, obtaining a consistent improvement of rotor performance with respect to the baseline blade configuration. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.