Vestas Sailrocket posts second fastest nautical mile run on record

by Paul Larsen - Vestas Sailrocket on 1 Apr 2009
Yesterday Vestas Sailrocket effortlessly posted the second fastest nautical mile run ever. Not bad for a boat that was in ruins 18 days earlier with the pilot flat-out in a hospital bed.

Whilst yesterday was a bit light to hit top speeds, conditions were pretty ideal to ramp up the check-out of Vestas Sailrocket in preparation for what is to come.

Once we realised that the conditions were peaking we set off for a shot at the nautical mile. Visibility was pretty average in the cockpit and all I could do was focus on a stack of containers in the distant Walvis Bay Port. It was like driving in heavy rain with no window wipers. Vestas Sailrocket felt rock solid. The front end was pegged down, the control was flawless and the course dead straight for the whole mile. The only way I could tell I had hit the end of the course was from the bumps.

For the whole mile I was cycling through my senses in order to make decisions. Feeling the bumps and trying to make out the shore, the buoys, the objects in the distance, the accelerations, the rudder response, the level of spray... fast and safe steering options, the instruments, the noise. Over-riding all this was the determination just to hold-the-hell-on until the end. I figure that if I am closing on the shore that the chop and hence spray should reduce as I come into flatter water making me aware of the proximity.

It turned out that we had peaked at 45.25 knots, done a 43.17 knot 500 meter run and averaged 41.26 knots over the entire mile. That beats Dunkerbecks course record and makes for the second fastest mile run ever. It was a pretty effortless run from the boats perspective as we had dropped off to 36.6 knots towards the end. Based on this, I am pretty confident that topping Hydroptere's mile record is only a matter of time. We did all this in an average wind of 19.49 knots (Top 22.1, bottom 16.2 knots).

We have gone through all the data from onboard and seem to have Vestas Sailrocket dialled in almost perfectly. All the rudders, wings, beams etc seem to be giving the numbers we not only require... but have predicted. Being able to predict how the boat will perform is a pretty critical aspect of going into the 'ughknown'! We know that this boat can still come out in front with what we have before us.

We went back and did a second run as Ian Du Toit from Trimble had come out and we wanted to show him exactly what we were doing with his expensive gear. It was a spectacular last sail as the glorious African sun set behind us. It was our first corporate sail:) Ian breathed life into our GPS gear which had been damaged so now we have three of these little bits of exotica!!!
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So the forecast for today is 23 knots as our runs get later and later due to the tides. the team is really on the ball as we continue to nail the details. We have a little over two weeks left and all the ducks are lining up.

Happy birthday to team member Nick Bubb today(for those of you who haven't heard of Nick... you will!)... and welcome back to the Wotrocket team. We've missed you. Persistence pays.

Cheers, Paul.

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