High-Speed Sailing

I watched, with interest, the videos of the 34th America’s Cup. At last we have fast sailboats engaged in a competition that is fun to watch. The virtual images (such as course boundaries, distance grid lines, separation between boats, etc.) overlaid on the real images really helps to keep the race [...]

100 Knots for Hydroptere?

The latest news from Hydroptere is that they have plans for a 100 knot sailboat. This was posted on 26 Aug 2013, so look for that date at this address. http://hydroptere.com/en/the-news/last-news/

Aptly named Sailrocket, blasts off!

While yet to be ratified, Sailrocket posted an average speed over 500 meters of 59 knots. I will not be surprised if they increase their record into the 60 knot range during this record attempt.

02 January 2012

More drag for VSR2?

I want to start by pointing out that the whole VSR2 team has done a stellar job and has demonstrated conclusively that the forces that drive a sailboat can be aligned for roll stability without using ballast and without using any down-force. (Trifoiler achieved roll stability by using down-force, but [...]

18 December 2011

My analysis of Sailrocket

I copied a diagram of VSR2 (wing doesn’t show well) and added in the major force arrows that apply. Be aware that these arrows are not correct in terms of scale (length) and some of their locations are guesses, however I believe I’m correct enough for us to learn something about what VSR2 has been [...]

60 is within reach, what’s next?

I have been watching Sailrocket’s progress with great interest and there’s no question they have a winner. I fully expect to see them reach 60kt in the near future. Sailrocket has now demonstrated what I first learned with my models and again with my full-sized prototypes, that if you get the forces [...]

Bob's high-speed sailing blog -- start

25 April 2008

Bob Imhoff

Ahoy to all sailors and particularly those interested in high-speed sailing. At a friend's urging, I realized that I do have something to say on the subject.

My credentials are to be seen in my work and stand or fall on its workability. I got my high speed sailing interest start (as many others have) with Bernard Smith's book "The 40 Knot Sailboat". I went on to develop my own craft based on Smith's inspiration. You can see some pics of early prototypes at:

http://www.geocities.com/aerohydro/othercraftframeset.htm

I have continued to develop the prototypes and have a more advanced version than what's posted. Also note that the contact info for me at that site is no longer valid.

I have been paying a minor amount of attention to some of the more visible contenders for the sailing speed record and I realized that I am in a unique position of understanding because of the success of my own models and prototypes. I plan to comment on the strong/weak points of the top speed contenders that I am aware of.

Bob

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