Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

A little fun, a little science

This may be relevant as it develops: http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sa...hos-fastest-them-all-around-course-35757.html

 

I just happened on a tidbit from the Hydroptere web site:

Friday 10th December 2010

Before Christmas break, all the Hydroptère teams are mobilized on their two shipyards to prepare both boats for the coming challenges.

The deadline is very short as l’Hydroptère.ch and l’Hydroptère will be back on the water in the beginning of spring.

In 2011 the new catamaran will head to the Swiss lakes, starting with Lake Geneva.

And her older 60 ft-sister will head to the open sea, aiming at the Pacific crossing record.​

The targets are:

• Transpacific, Los Angeles – Honolulu 2215 Nov-05 Geronimo 19.17 kts
  
• Transpacific W to E, Yokohama – San Francisco 4482 Jun 06 Geronimo 13.39 kts.

I am not sure I understand going after the Pacific Record. The current best speed averages are under 20 kts. The character of the big Foiled Tri seems more at home in heavier air than I would expect from a Pacific run.

• Are the French just catering to their sponsors (I seem to remember some Asian sponsorship, but I could not find any with a quick look)?
  
• Do they think that they can find enough wind such that this is an easy target?
  
• Are they afraid to go for the more prominent Transatlantic given that the target (Banque Populaire 5, 32.94 kts) would be too tough?
  
• Are they afraid that conditions in the North Atlantic could be too much for the boat?

Ok, time to weigh in with opinions

 

Hydroptere-Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

I read something a long time ago about the team working on some sort of electronics that could scan the surface and a short way under the surface in time for the boat on foils to miss the object. They must have perfected it or surely they wouldn't do this? They've hit stuff before and it cost them big time.....

 

at last, I was proselytised to foilers

Last mounth I was proselytised to foilers at last. I bought my new boat as a bargain from the american navy. Its a Tomcat 14 powered by a big kite up in the jetstream.

See me waterskiing behind it. It is definetly the fastest foiler on mother earth!

Grreeetings fron the North Sea Coast and merry Christmas to you all, Michel

 

Hydroptere-Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

Looks like she may be coming to San Francisco!

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2011-02-17&dayid=544

 

thanks for the tip Doug

 

Hydroptere-Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

Hydroptere has a completely new website here: http://www.hydroptere.com/

 

From their new website :
"2009 was dedicated to outright speed records. The Mediterranean record campaign was totally successful as l’Hydroptère achieved two world speed records that will be hard to exceed for the competitors (average speed of 51.36 knots over 500 meters on 4th September 2009 and above all 50.17 knots over one nautical mile on 8th November 2009) and showed the reliability and the efficiency of the concept."

I find that a bit misleading, it kind of implies that they are the current record-holders. The nm record, yes, but I think folks reading this who are not informed might believe that they still hold the 500m record as well.
Oh well, I suppose honesty and marketing very seldom spend much time in the same room.

 

============
I think that is a cheap shot-they were clearly talking about what they did in 2009!
However, now that you've brought it up: since boards and kites aren't sailboats I guess they still hold both records for sailboats (!)

----
USCG on the question:

Q: What is the difference between a "sailboat" and a "sailboard?"

A: While many sailboard manufacturers advertise their products as "sailboats," there are major differences between the two. A sailboat has a fixed mast that the operator does not need to hold up. The design of a sailboat is such that the operator and any passengers can sit down. A sailboard has a free fall system for the sail and mast. In order to sail a sailboard, the operator must stand up and hold up the mast. If a sailboard carries more than one person, it is designed so that each person operates a separate sail while standing on the board.

http://www.windvisions.com/USCGdefinition.html
===================================================
Even the officials at Weymouth Speed Week make the distintion between boards and boats:
http://www.speedsailing.com/2010Results.htm

 

Not a cheap shot Doug - this is their NEW website, ie it implies it has been UPDATED with information that is CURRENT and RELATIVE.
The following line sums it up : "l’Hydroptère achieved two world speed records that will be hard to exceed for the competitors.
This is present tense stuff, not what happened in 2009. the words "will be hard" implies that it has not yet happened. If the website is new or recently overhauled, I would expect the information contained in it to be more important than the pretty picures and goal statements.
In addition, they say "will be hard for the competitors." If they had said "for other boats" I`d kind of understand your viewpoint.
I really just think they should update the information on their website to reflect what is current - yes, they held the 500m record in 2009, but that is over now.

 

seems pretty obvious there is a difference between a boat and a board

the fastest sail "boat" and the fastest sail "board"

there is also a substantial difference between a vehicle traveling using only wind power and one using enhanced wind artificially manipulated by onshore structures

If that is not enough to end the comparison there is always the issue of the artificially manufactured water conditions the sail "boards" use rather than the natural conditions that the sail "boats" use. Or did they not rule against the wave killer at Ludicroust yet.

Basically you have a ditch on the one hand with completely manufactured conditions and on the other hand you have conditions natural to all competitors, hardly a worthy comparison.

I believe we discussed this to death on another thread a while back and the "boaters" were able to quote several of the WSSRC rules that clearly define comparable conditions for all contenders. There is no specification for the size of those contenders nor is there a provision that requires contenders to have to travel to a single location where unusually favorable conditions occur for vehicles of specific dimensions.

It might be prudent at this point to note the very first sentence of the rules governing the 500 m course

while the WSSRC has rule in favor of the ditch I firmly believe that the legal validity of that ruling would last about five seconds in any courtroom

cheers
B

 

I think what is really interesting in the Coast Guard definition of a sailboard and everybody's definition of a kite board is that at last the squabbling is over: they are NOT sailboats!! And that should put an end to any thought that Hydroptere is not the fastest sailboat on the planet over any course.

 

The fastest sailboat in the world currently is a kiteboard. Sorry gentlemen! change the rules or change your boat if you want the outright record. until then honor the record and the WSSRF/ISAF ruling

 

Hydroptere-Fastest Sailboat on the Planet!

================
Well, kiting and windsurfing is sailing as is iceboating and land yachting
but windsurfers and kites are certainly not sailboats
by any recognized definition. That does not lessen the incredible performance
of both kites and sailboards-its just a fact.

 

I agree with your opinion that the performances of other classes of sailboats that have held the Outright World Speed Sailing Record are incredible. But your opinions are not facts.

These are facts:

"The World Sailing Speed Record Council was established by the International Yacht Racing Union (now renamed the International Sailing Federation) in 1972. The object was to provide impartial results for increasing numbers of claims to high speed sailing craft (On Water: Never On Ice Nor Land!). Early on the decision was made to base such speed ratifications on a one-way leg of exactly 500 metres. Meetings were held every year, often several meetings a year, in various suitable places in the world and speeds climbed with boats of various configurations and with sailboards."

Fact: Iceboating and land yachting are excluded in the WSSRC rules.

"Q: What is a "sailboard?" The windsurfing community has from time to time found itself regarded by local jurisdictions as "sail vessels" rather than surf boards or sports equipment. We need a definitive definition of sailboards or windsurfers from the USCG (Coast Guard). Are we subject to federal regulations regarding sailing vessels or are we considered sporting equipment i.e. surfboards?

A: The short answer is a sailboard is a vessel. You are subject to the Navigation Rules (Rules of the road) as are other vessels."

According to the Navigation Rules, International and Inland, "The term, 'vessel,' includes every description of watercraft including non-displacement........ used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on the water." As a result, the Coast Guard considers a sailboard a "vessel" as the term is used in the Rules of the Road. Therefore a sailboard is subject to the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other vessel. Sailboard means a sail propelled vessel............

Yes, there are differences between kitesurfers, sailboards, multihulls on foils and square riggers but they are all considered sailboats under the USCG's navigation rules and rules of the road, they are all allowed to compete for the Outright World Speed Sailing Record under the WSSRC/ISAF rules and they have at one time all held the Outright Record as a class......... today its a kitesurfer that is recognized as the fastest sailboat. Fact!