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 [...]

Kite power!

26 May 2009
Walter discovered some more pictures that we can learn from; use the following addresses:

http://www.parlier.org/beyond_the_sea/fr/multimedia.php

http://www.kiteboatspeed.com/

The "Beyond the sea" photos show a kite towed catamaran, which is quite interesting. While most of the photos appear to be "real", some appear to be computer generated (note the "UFOs" in one). At the end of the sequence of photos, the basic craft is revealed to be a solar-electric powered cat, and the word "solar" on the hull, makes sense. The website is in French, so I haven't learned more than what the photos show.

The craft is operated by a crew of two, a helmsman and a kite operator. It appears that steering is done by foot controls. The crew are perched on the tube frame (no seats) with netting below for their feet. Of particular interest is the fact that they operate with the lee daggerboard down and the windward board up. This, of course, is the way sail powered cats are operated but, since a kite is being used, they could put more power to the craft (and retain stability) by running with the windward daggerboard down and the lee board up (proper inclination of the daggerboards would be needed). Le Projet Dared shows the set-up. A couple of the images show the craft flying a hull, but those appear to be computer generated. Note that photos 6 & 7 are in reverse order (observe the powerboat and marker buoy positions) and that the cat is barely moving (no wake).

"Kiteboatspeed" is quite interesting; it's a copy of Greg Kettermans "Trifoiler" but with kite power instead of sail power. I have no info beyond the video.

Bob
Comments

About & Links