... and looking pretty as ever. In the end there was no need to rush to get out on the water as the weather didn't demand it... so we took our time with the detailing. I am in no hurry to get to the next accident. After a big crash like the last one we need to spend some time just dialling the boat back in and making sure it is calibrated. This generally involves getting the steering system in sync with the foil alignment. We have a system of jigs and lasers to get it within fractions of a degree on land... and then we take it out on the water and check that it translates into the right rudder angles at high speed with the wing sheeted in. If it does... then we are good to go, safe in the knowledge that I will have very fine and delicate control at high speed that won't upset the boat.

Although these crashes are far from desireable... they do allow you the opportunity to do all the little jobs that sort of needed doing... but weren't critical before. We built new tip fairings for the wing... and a much safer storage setup for the super valuable TRIMBLE GPS gear. The wing has been fully re-skinned and re-rigged.

A big 'thanks' to Ian Dutoit and the team at OPTRON GEOMATICS in Sth Africa. They have once again shown amazing support by supplying us with another TRIMBLE 5700 unit. Whilst these bits of kit have shown their robustness by recording and storing our run data even after a somersault and total salt water immersion for near on an hour... they do have their limits. If we don't have one of their units onboard... then we are wasting our time down here. It really helps to have their support. We'll really look after this one guys. We just can't afford to lose it... or the precious data that it carries after each big run.

So the repairs on VESTAS SAILROCKET were pretty much finished yesterday... exactly one week after the crash... but we did the final assembly this morning and are still tweaking it at the moment. Our little team of Alex, Jeff, Hiskia, Helen and Helena have done a great job, all working for a day that we will remember forever.

The wind is no good today so we will use the time wisely. The next few days are going to be pretty full on... perhaps too strong for us. But the good days will come. We are now half way through this attempt... but have only made two runs. I'm not too concerned about that. I'll be surprised if we make more than ten all up. That last run actually gave me more confidence in the boats ability. The flip was due mostly to a structural failure. The boat itself actually felt like it was cruising at 50 knots well before the flip. If the foil had of maintained it's angle I think the boat would have simply behaved like the 1:5th scale model did all those years ago when it would lose grip at the front end. The nose would have lifted and flown off to leeward... and then dropped back down. I don't think it would have developed into a full flip. The photos clearly showed that the foil failed early in the sequence. Well done to Local tour guide operator Naude Dreyer for capturing the action from the bar at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club.

Yep, it's great to be back. One of these days it will all come together.

Cheers, Paul.

It's great to be back.

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 turned 90 degrees to leeward... but it did the full flip and inverted landing. As I sat there looking at the clouds I congratulated myself on my choice of full-face KBC helmet and HANS neckbrace. They absorbed the impact well as my shoulders smashed the 'roll-bar' clean off as I flew out. I was fine.

At that stage I thought... "That's it... no more. This boat has issues". I thought the boat had just lost pitch stability in a gust. Alex pointed to the main foil which was wobbling around in the air. I was quitely relieved. Component failures are easier to resolve. The upturned boat was dragged backwards to the shore with the wing dragging alongside trailing bits of broken flap.

Once we got it ashore we could do a basic damage assessment. The boat itself is  undameged... amazingly enough... neither is the whole main section of the wing... or the two end flaps!!! Even the strut is still intact. The main flap is confetti and there is a few spots of random damage that will take some detailed repairs. We got the boat back last night and brought the wing back this morning. We've already started. This boat has had a hard life... perhaps the hardest of all(considering it is the same hull/beam and wing originally launched)... but it just refuses to die.

We've gone over all the data and watched all the videos. It was only on the video that we saw the wave. The peak speed was actually done earlier where we did 5 seconds over 50 knots. The sun was glaring of the wing angle display. From the PI/COSWORTH data logger I could see that I could have sheeted in a little more and as mentioned, still had the flap to come in. The wind was measured at around 25 knots there so it's not surprising. The video showed how solid the front end of this boat is in normal conditions. To me it didn't feel like anything super special. If only the wind wasn't so damned gusty! This boat has a world record in it and we are going to do every thing in our power to drag it out.

We will go through the foil failure and work out a repair. Obviously  it didn't have enough of a safety margin. The foil itself is fine... it's only the very top tip where it is supported by a ball joint at the top of the centre-board case. So we found another weak link that may have let us down at a higher peak speed with even more drastic consequences. Looking at the damage now I feel that we got of lightly.

Of course we caught it all on video with stills from both directions. I even had an onboard camera... which turned itself off the second the nose lifted (I will write a whole report about onboard cameras for boats as no-one has got it right. We've tried them all and spent thousands... and they all fail or give average results).

It will take us 7-10 days to be back in action. The boat will be better than ever and we remain undeterred. we know this particular boat is far from perfect... but we also know first hand that it is bloody quick and that on its day it should be able to top Hydroptere's current record. I will happily climb back onboard. One day, just as it has for every other world record holder that has had the perseverence, it will all come together for us... and it will all seem easy. 

all the goodies will be posted once we sort out our other job-list.

Perseverence pays.

Cheers, Paul...

We used to pop corks at 40 knots... now it's just an effortless stroll.

We did a 41 + knot 500 m run in around 18 knots average wind. ( I haven't downloaded all the data yet... but that's my guesstimation). It was a joy to blow off all the cobwebs from five months of storage. The run was perfect in that the boat was hitting all the marks and behaving impeccably.

The wind came up a bit later... but not enough. I had seen enough and already feel willing to go all out for 50 +. I don't want to just keep doing runs for the sake of it as each run has an element of random risk involved. The next few days are forecast to blow... so we will put all our effort there.

The front end of VESTAS SAILROCKET felt rock solid... and I hope it stays that way when we point it down the course in a proper blow.

Hydroptere's new record is pretty impressive... but I must say that I'm quietly confident that we can do this.

Apologies for the live feed dropping out... it won't happen again. It was an electrical issue i.e. there was none in the battery!!!

So come on Walvis... we're ready to look you square in the eye now... give us your best.

Cheers, Paul

Not much to report I'm afraid.

We have the whole team on standby... but the wind isn't coming to the party. It's forecast to come in from Tuesday on so we are using the time to keep refining the boat.

It really has been light. I don't mind these days too much as there is usually a nice and stress free mood about the place. The boat is ready and the job-list is minor. It's a waiting game... and that's more enjoyable than a fixing game. We are so used to full on repair sessions with this project... that we almost expect them. They come with the territory I guess although that doesn't mean we like them. It would be brilliant if we could achieve our goals now without it involving any mishaps. Of course we will try and make this the case. We have sought to make the boat tough rather than chase grams.

We have only been over to the course once and there wasn't enough wind to do a run. We spent the afternoon 're-stumping' the timing hut. It had blown over in the strong East winds and was half sunk in the sand as the tides had washed in through the door. It was a bit of a mission but we eventually got it up by putting the big SEAFLEX marker buoy under it and pumping it up with the RIB air-pump. So it's all back on the level now. See the work we go to to keep our WSSRC commissioner warm and happy?

So let's see what Tuesday brings... hopefully something as we are starting to lose the afternoon high tides already.

Cheers, Paul.