With conditions on the test track at Walvis Bay in Namibia near perfect for the attempt, Weymouth based sailor Paul Larsen and his Vestas SailRocket 2 team, who have been working on breaking the record for almost a decade having seen it rise by nine knots, was confident of success having earlier in the week averaged 54.08 knots down the 500m course.
This beat the previous ‘boats’ record of 51.36 knots set by Alain Thebault’s team on L’Hydroptère in 2009 but was still some way short of the overall sailing speed record of 55.65 knots, set two years ago in Luderitz by American kite-boarder Rob Douglas  … More