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NEWS
Australian sailor breaks 60 knots - Video
World's fastest boat on cusp of outright world speed record. Check this out.VESTAS Sailrocket 2 (VSR2) is a radical craft. It looks perhaps more like a plane than a boat because a lot of attention has been focused on the aerodynamic efficiency and stability of the craft, although it still relies very much on hydrodynamics to allow her to carve across the wind.
"Whilst VSR2 might actually be sailing in only 25 knots of real wind, at full speed the lightweight, carbon fibre boat and its rigid wing sail feels like it is sailing in over 60 knots of wind and yet doesn't require traditional systems of weights and levers to remain stable," explains Australian Paul Larson, the Project Leader and Pilot of VSR2.
"It is based on a concept where all the overturning forces typically associated with sailing craft are removed. This allows the boat to use the wind created by its own speed to generate a lot of its ultimate power without actually getting overpowered," Larson, who is on the cusp of cracking the outright world sailing record, explains.
From its launch in the UK, VSR2 has rapidly progressed up the speed sailing ladder and, after only 23 runs, hit speeds over 50 knots down the magical mile long course at Walvis Bay's 'Speed-spot' in Namibia.
In the latest run on the video below Larson and hisVSR2 hit a peak speed 61.92 knots, averaging 54.08 knots over 500 metres, and 59.08 knots over a 5 second average. Now that's fast!
"After looking at all of yesterday's data I know we can smash this," says a jubilant Larson. The next potential forecast is for Friday/saturday.
Photo: Helena Darvelid/Vestas Sailrocket
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Written byBoatsales Staff
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