Hi to all, well we are set to return to Walvis Bay on the 14th of August for our 4th session on the wonderful speed strip.

Friends on-site down there tell me that the wind has returned with a vengeance... so it's time for us to do the same. Helena booked the tickets today so the gig is on.

It is our aim to continue building on the performance of VESTAS SAILROCKET so that we can commence a ratified record session ASAP.

We have a relatively short list of necessary modifications to make to the boat... but otherwise it will be buisness as usual.

The windy season is from now until the end of November and this time we are ready for it.

Cheers, Paul.

Helena and I have returned to Weymouth to our old speed-sailing hunting grounds. The International Moth class have just finished their World Championships here and it was great, as always, to see them in action. The weather was pretty wild there for awhile and they were kept of the water for the first four or so days. Good ol' Weymouth. Whilst Namibia offers conditions a multitude of times better and more consistent... I would still love to bring VESTAS SAILROCKET back here to have a crack at setting the first 40+ knot run in Portland Harbour. That would be very cool.

So we brought some of the necessary equipment back to get modified to allow some new sensors to be added to the skeg. PI RESEARCH are going to modify the existing wiring looms to accept a strain guage which should tell us a lot about how VESTAS SAILROCKET is balanced.

We have drawn up a new schedule for our next session down in Namibia and are contemplating the timing for booking a fully ratified record session with the WSSRC (governing body). I feel that we are in a pretty good position to do so and that we should be putting this sort of pressure on ourselves. We have spent a lot of time on this project and if there are any real BIG issues then we should be confronting them sooner rather than later.

Whilst this is all being worked on, Helena and I will head up to Bristol to work on yet another 'winged wonder'. Our friends at AIRBUS have nearly completed their new wing for their C-Class catamaran. We will go and give them all the help we can to get this amazing craft back on the water... but that's another story.

Britain has finally showed us some weather worthy of being classified as summer-ish so we will enjoy it while we can. We still aim to be back down in Walvis Bay in mid-early August. Friends have already e-mailed us to tell us that we have missed a couple of good days... but you get that. You can't get them all.

Meanwhile the Hydroptere team are waiting for some stronger winds to appear down in the Med. whilst the new 'Wotrocket' team have very optimistically booked the WSSRC for a record session next month! I openly admit that I still can't work that one out...

Cheers Paul

To read Malcolm's Blog click here.

The weather window we were hoping for has fizzled out so we have decided to head back to the UK early.

We knew that there was going to be less liklihood of good sailing days at this time of year but decided to stay on just in case. We were looking forward to the upcoming weekend but things look set to continue weather-wise. Our resources could be better applied if we return in early mid August.

VESTAS SAILROCKET is already packed away inside her container and the operational area has been disassembled.

We will use the time wisely in the UK to review what has happened and what is to come. Whilst we haven't hit the speeds we were hoping for.... we haven't hit any brick walls either. The boat and team in general has come a long way in the past four months. Speeds well over 40 knots are now a common occurrence and I personally feel that we are ready to make another significant performance jump.

I know I keep saying it, but speed WILL come with control... and I feel we are getting close to having the necessary control to steer with precision at high speeds. Part of the joblist over the coming weeks will be to install sensors on the foils to give a better indication of what the balance of the boat is like.

The accident that occurred on Run 50 was simply that... an unpredicted accident. We have since load tested the whole skeg assembly to over 185 kg of side load half way down its span and there was no sign of it breaking.

Whilst our goal is simply to be the fastest whatever that speed need be, we are very aware that there is a race on to be the first to 50. We will be back in action as soon as the conditions are back. So the ball is pretty much in Hydroptere's court now. We sincerely wish them well as their passion, dedication and openess is a great model for achieving success way beyond mere speed sailing circles. We hope they go fast... but not that fast just yet!!!

The coming weeks will also allow us time to put together some videos which will be posted when done (remember my laptop got stolen and it has been quite a hindrance in the video editing department).

So hopefully it will only be a relatively temporary departure from speed-spot and once again, as usual, we will come back much stronger for it.

Cheers, Paul.