VESTAS Sailrocket 2. "The magic mile" world record*...

Two days after finally smashing the Outright world speed sailing record, the Vestas Sailrocket 2 team decide to tackle the 'Nautical Mile' world record which was held by the mighty 'Hydroptere'. It was always going to be an interesting challenge for the VSR2 team as the speed course that they sail on in Walvis Bay, Namibia is defined by a beach which is exactly 1.04 miles long. This requires them to launch the boat out in more exposed waters and try and get up to as high a speed as they dare in rough water before they hit the start of the mile. At the end of the course they also fire out into rough water and have to bring the boat to a stop. It's hard on the boat. The beach is not straight but has a slight curve in it . The mile is measured by TRIMBLE GPS equipment in a straight line so pilot Paul Larsen needs to balance between sailing in close to the beach for the flat water... and sailing the straightest and hence shortest distance between A and B. In this run, with winds that averaged just under 25 knots, The team smashed not only the nautical mile record* by over 5 knots averaging over 55.3 knots... but also raised their own 'Outright speed' record* to 59.38 knots over 500 meters hitting a peak speed of 64.78 knots (74.55 mph, 120 kph). For Larsen it was the perfect payback for 10 years chasing 'the perfect reach'. Speed sailing had paid him back in full and a dream was realised. VSR2 performed exactly as predicted by the Sailrocket design team of Malcolm Barnsley and Chris Hornzee Jones at AEROTROPE. The spec for the boat was to be able to hit 65 knots in 26 knots of wind in order to average around 60 knots. * All records subject to WSSRC ratification Directed, filmed and edited by Ben Holder.

Comments

1. It's a bit inconvenient that you can't sail this boat on a port tack.
2. haulin' ass
3. So gotta wind of uh bout 28 mph. So maximum sail speed would be bout 28 mph. Now if you go faster than the wind-and I believe this was covered in Monty Python's movie The Holy Grail-then you would indeed be a witch right? I'm pretty sure I'm correct on this. Witch or warlock or a little motor. Did anyone see a paddle?
4. Really special, wow! One quick wind powered machine.
5. At this point, what's the difference between a aircraft/glider and a boat?
6. Wow that was incredible
7. That's wild running that right off the beach that way. This may be a single-purpose boat, but it's a helluva' boat at that single purpose!
8. You can feel the terror in his voice
9. EIGHT ELL
10. 8L squad?
11. 8j squad
12. 8j
13. wowwww nice
14. How did he fit his balls in that little cockpit? Goodness, that's fast!
15. not every day you see an actual rooster tail from a sailboat!!!!
16. Hard on the boat???? Sounds like the pilot, I think the proper word for this thing, could make good use of a kidney belt ;-). Congrats, quite an accomplishment. Looks awesome fast just on vid, how much for a drive (just kidding)? Neat to see a long run. Always amazed me in the previous video how incredibly fast this thing accelerated when pulled in, not so much in rough water it appears. That forward float on the foil side looked like it was about to go aero. rather than hydro, if you get my drift. Wouldn't a pitch adjustable foil out there be slightly less drag, or is the effective weight so low there it doesn't matter?
    
    Another point I just thought of. Yea you beat them (Hydroptere), but would you in a two way speed run? ;-).
17. God bless bee safe and have fun ,Awesome .
18. Awesome... Now you can layoff more technicians to pay for this million dollar piece of shit.... try paying a good wage for your techs that make the money to fund shit projects like this....
19. Aussies, huh?  Great work, and such an exciting video.  What the ride must have been like!