Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

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I am doing something about it: I making sure that you and everyone else understand that some people don't buy into the absurdity of equating what Hydroptere has done with sailing fast in a ditch.

 

That sentence, plus a buck will get you a bottle of water at the convenience store. Essentially, this amounts to doing nothing and that won't change.

Having problems because the kiteboard riders don't use lifting foils is at the root of this conflict. The fact that they obliterated the previous mark by a significant amount is even more distasteful. It's fair to say that everyone who may read this thread understands that dilemma you are having.

The intelligent and wise folks at WSSRC see it otherwise and as long as they have the ball, you are not going to make much headway, no matter what you say.

 

might be a little more fair and a lot more financially reasonable to bring the kites out to France

if its smooth water you insist on then I'm sure you can all find some there

digging a big ditch and hoping for a wind direction that is equally as advantageous to both is hardly a reasonable expectation as is moving such a large craft such a huge distance

what is funny though is that a few pot smoking beach bums with kites are giving old 200+ million dollar Hydropter a good run for the money, and the kids will have change left over for a burrito and a beer

Cards
you might want to lighten up some cause I just dont see this melt down of which you speak

on the contrary Doug has always been polite as far as I can see

cheers
B

 

The kite boarders are no doubt the fastest while sailing in a ditch in heavy winds. But at the club I sail at in Thailand there are both windsurfers and kite boards (more kite boards than windsurfers for the first time last year) and I have yet to see a kite board sail as high or as fast as a windsurfer in open water. The kite boarders there tell me the real attraction of kite boards is the ease with which one can become airborne. The windsurfers say the kite boarders are always in the way and that the reason for their popularity is that a novice can be plaining after a few lessons. But if sailing fast in a ditch in gale force winds is your thing than a kite board is the way to go. I do not want to sail in a ditch at high speeds but I am definitely interested in the development of kites as bow lifting down wind sails.

 

What is this, B?

Quote: Doug Lord "I think it is absolutely ABSURD to claim a record against Hydroptere when it is achieved by "sailing" in a **** ditch!!!!!"


Use of all caps for a word that is clearly about yelling an insult. An omitted, or should I say, poorly disguised, piece of foul language and five exclamation marks for what is supposed to be a normal conversation?

This is a meltdown in polite conversation and you know that. He could learn how to express himself better and get rid of these types of references. From what I have seen by scanning back in the archives and ghosting this forum for quite a while, is that this language style goes right to personal slurs.

That's a meltdown compared to the rest of the exchanges here. Then there is this one over on the Sailboats section where Doug is also tossing words around that step away from a polite conversation.

I think that he could calm down and keep the non-essential expressions that are confrontational out of the exchange. Of course, we can run this as a beer drinking BS session in someone's basement, where anything goes. Is that better for the quality of the forum?

 

Nothing else to do ?

pogo

 

Nope, nothing to do, but then, I'm wealthy and have all kinds of free time.

You must have heard of a library over there? ;-)

 

- I think there's a good point right there. The question of whether speed-boarding and big boats like l'H has been going on for years. Same old, same old ...

The issue never gets resolved and never will. Why can't people just link to one of the previous discussions and anyone who actually hasn't read it a hundred times already ca just read the old stuff. no need to regurgitate it then.

 

I really do not care where they sail or in what conditions, the Kites are the fastest sailors on the water. The Kites have been advancing their top speeds faster than any other technology. As they have improved Kite & Foil efficiency, their natural stability (the large loads are balanced) and their fast acting active control system (brain + arms + leggs) have let them pound the boats and the boards. Their accomplishments are real when you think of the skill, the physical strength, guts (or nuts) and the technology required.

People that dream of high speed boat sailing need stop fussing and move on. The real question for this thread, is who is going to push boat technology past this new mark and when.

The big foiler approach took a well funded French team how long. Then after getting the record, they have had the boat on a PR tour showing it off ever since. Probably a required thing - payback for the sponsors. But now, will they now try to push it it harder, or will they give up on being fastest for the next few years? Their smaller boat (tri not cat) has been described as test platform, not a serious top speed challenger.

The other obvious choice is the Sailrocket team. They learned a lot with their first try. I just hope that they will get a new boat built that will be both faster and more versatile. As an engineer, I see where a one tack boat can be made to go a little faster. However, there is a huge advantage of being able to get a bunch of test runs in on those rare days where conditions are what you really want. Also, many sailors probably just don't feel that a one tack Sailrocket Mk I type approach is a "real sailboat" that they can relate to.

A real longshot would be a boat by the same name, see http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?509-Longshot-Rides-Again. It was pulled out of storage and put back on the water. It now has wings (actually it had them before it was put away, but they crashed & gave up). The basic platform has some real potential if they will focus on fixing what stopped them. Foil and wing technology for sailing has advanced quite a bit and there are a lot of smart foil/wing nuts that would probably love the chance to help.

The Macquarie Innovation team hit their goal (beat 50 kts) and then quit. Their parting words were basically that they were tired of the WSSRC rules.

Actually, I tend to agree that the rules need some work given the challenge of finding a workable loaction and then having to try to guess well in advance when conditions will be right. Unless you can attend an "open event" and/or live real close to one of the few choice locations, the rules pretty much make it not worth even trying unless you have plenty of money and resources. Just imagine some guys building a better boat in their garage, getty it up to 55 kts on a really nice windy day and then knowing the agony of trying to do what it takes to meet all of the rules.

There were some others that seemed to be trying a few years back, but those efforts all seemed to fizzle out. Anyone know of anything different?

 

Shouldn't be a problem. The Trench at the Camargue, France has been the venue for past speed sailing records and attempts.

 

fair enough Paul

I cant help but wonder if hydropters top speed is 61 knots and they are presently building an even faster boat ( is that accurate Doug cause I seem to remember that they are building another better boat, Viva la France ) how the kiter's can lay claim to being the fastest at 50 knots

dont get me wrong I dont want to play favorites
if one is faster than the other then hey
deal with it

but it sure sounds like Hydropter is kicking *** to the tune of at least 10 knots advantage

so whats the deal
how is it we seem to have kiters saying they are faster when at first glance it sure seems like Hydropter is in the lead

cheers
and best to all
B

 

Boston, the 61 kts Doug loves to quote is just a peak speed. It isn't the average speed across a measured course which is what is required for a ratified record. The kiters probably have a peak speed in excess of 61 kts but don't make a fuss about it because they know it isn't really meaningful.

 

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Boston, the record the kite speed has been ratified for is over 500 meters-Hydropteres peak speed(not over 500m) is 61 knots(70.1mph). What counts is the record over 500m ratified by the speed sailing authority, the WSSRC. They don't care where such a record is set-a ditch is just fine. I think comparing a record set in a ditch to a record set in the open ocean is ridiculous. But those are the current rules....

 

The goal is not to have a world championship fastest sailing craft that works in the ocean swells, well offshore. (which I doubt that Hydroptere can do, anyway)

The goal is simple: put up the quickest time under sail for a standardized 500 meter timed course. You run what you brung, so quit whining and marginalizing if you fall off the exalted bar stool. Simply have some class, acknowledge the new champion and then drop it with nothing else being said unless it is additional congratulations to the record setting team, or individual.

 

- Oops! You forgot to mention the water. Now your boards have to compete with 125 mph+ land yachts! Once you open the door ...

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For the record, I think the video - and the athleticism and technology and ingenuity that went into it - is absolutely great.

However, great though it is, I have a problem with people trying to lump it together with an actual boat that actually floats in water more than a few inches deep, especially when their purpose seems to be to denigrate one or other of these great efforts.

In the video the water is merely acting as a lubricating layer between the land and the board. If the board stops it sinks to the bottom. If I designed a land yacht in which the wheels were lubricated with water instead of oil so no metal-to-metal contact took place in the bearing, how would that be different, exactly?

So, let's quit sniping, acknowledge the champions, both of them in this case, all of them in practice, and not try to marginalize either of these great efforts with snide remarks about cost - performance ratio, ocean-going capability or the rest.

It's apples and oranges, people! Sure I understand your expressing your opinion, but most of you have expressed the same opinion so many times it's getting boring.

What would be really great if the skateboard parks that are springing up all over, or maybe water parks, could include a shallow water trough lined up with the prevailing wind so the kids could try something new on a breezy day ...