High-Speed Sailing

Vessel Name: Sailien
Vessel Make/Model: Experimental/custom
Recent Blog Posts
28 September 2013

The America’s Cup

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 [...]

31 August 2013

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/

17 November 2012

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 [...]

23 October 2011

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 [...]

Who is next to 50?

05 April 2009
I'd like to say that I was very happy to see that Macquarie Innovation broke 50 knots. You might recall that earlier I said I hoped they would be the first. They weren't quite the first (the kite-boarders got that honor) but they are the first full-size craft (providing they get ratified at 50). I would like to see them get to 51 knots and the outright record real soon. Once again, my reasoning on this is: that Innovation is very cool and the most efficient craft running, but that they are close to their limit due to the way they stabilize the craft (using weight -- which I've discussed earlier). From the reports I've seen, Innovation was running in stronger wind (24 knots) than they prefer and that with a bit less, but steady wind, they should be faster.

Hydroptere is going to have to hustle if they want a record. I feel that they have the potential to go a bit faster than Innovation simply because they can handle more wind and a bit rougher water, but again, they are limited by using weight for ballast (demonstrated by their flip).

Sailrocket has the greatest potential of the current contenders but they are still hampered by control. Paul's blog post of 04/02/2009 describes the difficulties of control when the conditions are not ideal. Recall that I stated previously that they should attempt to get control good enough to sail in 30 knots of wind safely. Note that the only technical advantage the windsurfers and kite boarders have is that they can sail in winds exceeding 30 knots.

We recently had a great demonstration of Richard Jenkin's talent as a designer/builder (126 mph for Greenbird land sailer) and I fully expect him to get the ice record as well. When Richard gets around to the water record, I expect him to be very competitive. I don't know enough about his water craft to say more than that but I do expect him to exceed 50 knots, based on what I understand about his craft and his talent.

Bob
Comments

About & Links