Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

I think the biggest margin ever was when Longshot upped the record several years ago?

 

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Somehow, someway, sometime ago I knew that. Don't give up Randy-you're doing fine-and thanks......

 

I'm curious how the fence is legal

if its not ok to have a lead boat to provide a wind barrier ( or is it legal, as nothing is mentioned in the rules about lead boats ) how is the fence legal if its shields both the water and the rider from wind as well

is this seriously how the bicycling speed records are set.


yup
John Howard
152.2 mph drafting behind a car

 

There is no fence, kites get to race in a ditch, timed over a straight 500m course, Hydroptere gets to race where and when they want with a GPS. For better or worse that is how it is, there are pros and cons to both. Im predicting that eventually the record will be held by something like the monofoiler project posted earlier, not a kite or Hydroptere.

 

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Wow-me agree with you?! Yep, I sure do....good thinking.

 

Well I guess so, it seems like a solution that is on the divergent path of kite speed development and boat speed development, it is a rigid 'kite' attached to a minimal platform with a solid line(s) that is stabalised by hydrodynamic foils. Its a step past the video postedof the kite/submarine concept

 

post 450 and 451

there seems to be some disagreement over whether or not this fence is still up or if it had any play in the record breaking attempts

 

Have a look at the second video down and make up your own mind

http://luderitz-speed.com/luderitz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=66

The blog referenced earlier was from 2009

 

The remains of the fence are clearly visible. Not enough fence to effect the speed. The state of the tide limited the fetch of the waves in the trench. It looks like very shallow/dry land on both sides.

The absence of the fence does not make the trench any less artificial. Could they have reached the same speeds in equal depth water farther offshore? Too bad we will never know. Using the trench opens the door to speculation about what the speeds would have been without the trench and that is sad. It tarnishes the records in the same way that the 24 hour monohull record is tarnished by the use of engines to move ballast. We don't know, but we suspect without the trench and the engines the records would be lower.

R

 

Well I've got a pretty good eye for flat and it looks like they piled up the overburden on the windward side of the trench which basically also acts like a wind break for riders and water behind it. The more I look at this ditch the less it resembles "comparable" conditions to the open ocean.

While you have made a good case for allowing the "track" venue to be given its due it is hardly representative of "comparable conditions"

while there is a remnant of some kind of fence it does look like if there was a fence running the length of the course its gone now. Although the fence was not specifically the issue, a wind break is what I'm suggesting is kinda fishy.

it would be really interesting to read up on how the ruling body decided to allow this venue.

any links on that one folks
B

 

When my DA sister sees this kind of testimony, she typically objects on grounds that someone is making assumptions on facts not in evidence. I would concur with her anticipated assessment. I further suggest that it would be a mistake to assume what I would, or would not, say in response to this hypothetical scenario.

 

The kiters currently run in an "artificial environment" because it is legal and it is not really a big deal.

To some extent almost all recent speed sailing efforts try to hug a shore, natural or otherwise. The kite guys actually do some of their competitions just off of beaches with offshore winds. If Rob Douglass were to set up an equivalent competition closer to home, he might find a barrier island strip to run next to or some existing boating channel to make runs in. If it is a pre-existing strip or a pre-existing open channel, would this make you happy. One of the most celebrated locations in the early days of speed sailing was Weymouth England. They have a natural strip of land that helps flatten the water. I do not recall one gripe about this location.

It is not the channel that makes them fast. It is skill and development. There are probably select locations around the world where strong winds blow past a low lying strip of land. The biggest advantage of the current location is the predictable nature of the strong winds. The kiters and windsurfers were doing pretty good in this general area even before they started making changes. The strip Sailrocket used is natural I think, and on occasion it has the winds that would allow kiters to go 50+. If you outlawed all sailing near human adjusted strips, beaches etc, you would just put the competitors in a needless position of trying to catch the "right" wind with the WSSRC lined up to watch.

 

The difference is that ALL speedsailors can use Weymouth, but ONLY kites and windsurfers can use the trench. How is this a moot point? If it "only" takes skill and development to get the speed, why did they build the trench? Why did they build a site where their main competition cannot sail at all? Can the kites hit the same speeds outside the trench?

The fact is that the trench is a factor or they would not use it.

No one is trying to outlaw sailing near shore to take advantage of smoother water. It is only the exclusive nature of the trench that I object to.

 

well you still have that sticky little issue of the rules

My bet is Hydropter and Sailrocket are not arguing this or we might see a different outcome. Obviously they are not sailing in similar conditions and how a board got ruled a boat is anybodies guess.

Did I hear someone mention that the boards they use don't even float?

 

So where do you draw the line with in regards to similar conditions?
How about we define a wind speed range of 40kt to 45kt
A sea state with a maximum wave height of 1.4m and a min of 1.23m
A water depth of 2.5m max 1.1m min

What else can we add to the list?