Latest news from Paul Larsen, regarding Vestas Sailrocket.
Morning all… from our little hive of activity down here on the lawn of the Walvis Bay Yacht Club in Namibia.
We are making great inroads into the long repair list and I feel that today will be the day that we ‘break the back’ of that list. Long, late nights can knock days of certain jobs.
I have now posted a Video diary of the recent events and will continue to do so through the remainder of this record attempt.
I know people like to see the action… so here it is. From what you see here it will take us a week to be back out ‘there’…. fitter and faster.
Cheers, Paul. (details & pictures)
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Crash Video Sailing – VESTAS Sailrocket WRA4 Run2… Flip diaries. Whilst making the first ‘full-on’ run of their 4th outright world speed sailing record attempt, Paul Larsen had a main foil failure at the end of the run. This resulted in a loss of down force to r…
If you thought the Swiss and American teams squabbling over the next America’s Cup are ready to kiss and make up, forget it. In fact, it’s just about to hit the fan.
It now appears that the Swiss Alinghi team will try to disqualify the 113-foot American trimaran, BMW-Oracle, before the first race is held by using new measurement rules that the Swiss developed in secrecy.
And now the Yanks have asked a court to …Â Details
Vestas Sailrocket’s final World Record Attempt started on October 2nd. Today’s latest news is not good for the Team.
Paul Larsen:
I’ll cut to the chase…
Yesterday we did a run in gusty conditions with recorded winds during the run ranging from 18.6 to 26.3 knots. The run started slow and peaked at 52.8 knots going past the timing hut… with no main flap on (approx. 4 knots still up our sleeve)… I got the flap on and pushed on trying to make this run count. At the end of the course we hit a small freak wave (a last remnant of the North bound Atlantic swell that wraps around the distant Pelican point and rolls back up the bay). The front end got ‘boosted’ and it appears that the main foil failed at the top inboard tip due to the centre of effort moving rapidly down with the boat fully loaded at around 48-50 knots.
It didn’t go as high as last time and …Â Details
Formerly the fastest sailboat in the world, SailRocket is making her final attempts at the outright speed sailing record this month, trying to steal the title from the big hydrofoil sailboat l’Hydroptere. One of these attempts ended in a dramatic boat crash today, catapulting the little boat and her skipper into the air in a stunning flip, while the support team watched in horror from the sidelines.Â
This isn’t the first time the SailRocket has crashed dramatically (see video below), and although the SailRocket team had an amazing season last year, they have also dealt with many set-backs. After this remarkable boat reached 47.36 knots to become the fastest sailboat …Â Details & Pictures
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Sailing footage of the extreme record-breaking sailboat SailRocket lifting off for a spectacular mid-air crash in Dec. ’08