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 [...]

Ouch!

30 August 2008

Ouch! Sailrocket had a crash and looks to be out for a few days while they repair. Details are sketchy, but from Paul's blog it sounds like the new aft planing surface tore off damaging the rudders (steering assembly).

I sure would be having more fun if I were on the scene participating in the action and repairs! I'd also like to be sailing/working with Hydroptere, Greenbird (Windjet), Wotrocket and any other serious contenders. However, that's not practical, so I get to follow the action on the web.

At this time, only Greenbird is ready and waiting for action; they need the lake-bed to dry-up and a good wind. I hope both happen shortly so they can start in their land speed-sailing quest. I'm thinking that they will make the next move - the wind will come up and they will start sailing.

OK, so I might as well speculate on the order of events in the near future. First up: Greenbird starts sailing, next Sailrocket gets repaired and sailing, and then Hydroptere comes off their break and resumes sailing (they're due back sometime in September).

Wotrocket is a complete unknown, since there's not enough info posted to speculate on what they are doing. They crashed and went in for repairs, but I suspect there will be some engineering changes, to eliminate the cause of the crash. I wish I had more info on the location and orientation of the foils and a video of the crash. With that, I might be able to guess at what has been happening.

Bob

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