Longshot Returns!

From Scuttlebutt:

LONGSHOT RETURNS

In 1993, at Bodega Bay, Russell Long took his last ride on Longshot, his
custom Ketterman built trifoiler, which had just been outfitted with new
foil wings. She bolted out of the gate a blasted up to near 50 knots when
the back stay parted and she "blew up" scattering pieces about the harbor.
Russell emerged shaken but unscathed. Longshots parts were gathered and
eventually trucked to Southern California.

Russell soon followed another passion, in protecting the environment and has
spent the past 15 years working with projects such a his Blue Water Network
and Friends of the Earth Which among other things ended the use of 2 stroke
engines on Lake Tahoe and forced the fuel efficiency issues in Washington
and Detroit.

Longshot was recently towed back to Watsonville, CA, had a few tweaks and
adjustments made, and readied for another go at the record books. She still
holds the class A 500 Meter Course record set in 1992 in Tarifa, Spain of
43.55 knots according to speedsailing.com. Russell has his sights set a bit
higher, that being the overall 500 Meter speed record set by Hydroptere of
51.36 knots set in Hyere's, France in 2009.

Russell was trialing Longshot's new configuration this past weekend at
Oyster Point, on the Southern San Francisco Bay. Photos and video interview
here:http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?509-Longshot-Rides-Again
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An excellent video of Ketterman explaining the concept of the trifoiler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Z4-Oh2fDE&feature=related

 

Doug, I don`t think it`s a "new configuration" as you put it - he crashed the boat on it`s first outing with the wingsails and put it away 17 years ago so he could fight the environmental polluters..
So it seems like it must have stood in a shed for that long, and been ressurrected now that he has taken a break from being so active as an environmental protector.
I hope there`s no petroleum based products in the boat, and that he will be sailing it to Namibia, keeping in line with his environmental goals - to fight the environmental bad guys, of which aircraft operators and petroleum companies must surely be high on his list.
Other than that I think it`s awesome that this boat can be rigged first time in 17 years and go blasting at around 40knots. I reckon speedsailing is going to get interesting soon, with the new Sailrocket and Longshot having a go at Hydroptere.

 

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Not my words. From the website or the Scuttlebutt press release. He is sure not going to sail it to Namibia....

 

what environmentally friendly materials was this boat made from,

 

protecting the environment from plastic, g r p , kevlar & aluminium factories, yeah right

 

oh my gosh....longshot

i am so glad to hear longshot (the original trifoiler) has made a return
i have followed speed sailing and weird foil concepts for years and i am totally addicted to it..so much so..that i have just completed the build of my hydroplaning catamaran..hydrocat

hydrocat had its first test 2 weeks ago and despite 3 major flaws causing drag..that i have now redesigned..got to 10 knots in light winds
hydrocat is getting its second test this sat 7th..at southend on sea (chaulkwell beach) and i am hoping for 15 to 20 knots..anyone is welcome to come along

 

Good luck ,Tony-very interesting. Have you seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbOr46fV4n0&feature=related

More on this thread: http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/multihulls/planing-catamaran-30415.html

 

yes doug ,,and thanks for the good luck..il,e be needing it..along with some jack daniels
although very different in many aspects.my hydrocat was inspired by greg mcgees itzacat,and he has been gracious enough over the last 8 weeks to help me out when i had questions to ask.hydroplaning has always fascinated me,and i cant quite believe the lack of hydroplaning craft out there at the moment as they overcome many of the problems associated with speed from sail power..the big ones being ..heeling and displacement..i hope to have a second vid to post soon with some on board footage..thats asuming i am still in one piece

see you soon
tony

southend on sea

united kingdom

 

Tony, good luck! When you get a chance you might find this thread interesting: it is a very small planing trimaran that I am designing now. Both the amas and main hull are capable of planing and the boat uses hydrofoils as part of the control system.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/multihulls/mpx-11-very-small-high-power-trimaran-33686-2.html

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You would be welcome to start a thread about your boat.....

 

nice one doug..i hope you get to build it..would love to see you testing it too
funny you should mention small tri,s
i am fascinated by small craft like the hobie adventure island,so about 10 months ago when i acquired a valley nordkapp sea kayak,i immediately thought about turning it into a small tri that would be faster than the adventure island..the idea is still knocking around in my brain and will probably be built next year,,i even thought about adding foils to it..that project and hydrocat are detailed at

http://kayakmaran.pbworks.com/FrontPage

but i did build a small v sail for the kayak and took some video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnJj5w5_oNg

i have some video of hydrocats first test,it done very well in light winds,,and despite some major drag going on at the back which i have now redesigned,,it got to 10 knots..thats a guess..as i had no way of measuring speed accurately..but as you can see from the video..it still wanted to go

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=1269311707664&ref=mf

i am testing again at the weekend now the redesigns are completed...i know its going to go faster...feel a bit scared ..but exited also