Hi all,

We have been in 'standby mode' and even 'stand down' mode for the past few days due to a spell of lighter winds. 

VESTAS Sailrocket 2 sits patiently outside waiting for the winds to pick up. We have been working through a number of jobs which include...

-Alex's constant battle to get the electronic data package working and providing accurate data. He's doing a good job working through all the usual problems along with a nice bunch of random ones thrown in. He has a lot more patience than me in that field.

- Fitting a new forward planing surface to the nose of the front float to help the boat accelerate earlier. It should have a number of benefits on of which being that it will allow us to finally be able to sail with two people. The other is that it may well help the nose of the boat lift earlier than the other two floats which in turn increases their angle of attack and helps them lift out. If this is the case then we might be able to remove some of the 'steps' that we added to the floats earlier. It's all about progressive transitions.

The planing surface sticks out like a four inch 'flange' all the way around the front of the float. It really should only work as the boat accelerates from stand-still up to planing at around 10 knots. After this the float should be riding high enough on the surface of the water so that the planing surface is clear. On the other hand we have to expect it to contact waves at some stage or potentially grab a solid chunk of water at speed if we ever encounter any unusual attitudes which have us slightly nose down. This may happen if the main foil fails for any reason. Therefore we have to make this planing surface strong. If it comes off it will take out the rudder and the main foil itself. It can't fail and it can't fall off. It has to be a proper job.

- Fitting the cockpit seat and safety harness. In the photos you may notice that I am sitting pretty high in the boat. The custom made carbon fibre seat allows me to sit comfortably a lot lower.

CUSTOM SEAT FITTED. TWO COSWORTH DISPLAYS ON LEFTGIVING WING AND RUDDER ANGLE. TACKTICK DISPLAY BEHIND QUICK RELEASE STEERING WHEEL GIVES APPARENT WIND ANGLE AND SPEED RELATIVE TO THE WING. PUSH-TO-TALK FOR VHF ACTIVATED BY STRING ON FOOT PEDALS.

LOWER SEATING POSITION ALLOWS ME TO JUST SEE OVER THE NOSE. WE ALSO HAVE A SCREEN WHICH WE WILL FIT LATER.

The cockpit is designed around this position. It does make getting in and out a bit more awkward which is why I haven't added it before. Now that we are going faster it is time to add all the safety equipment. I have a full set of 6 point safety harnesses designed for rally cars. Our application is a little different so I will only use parts of the setup including two of the straps coming around under my arms and across my chest where they plug into the quick release system.

CHEST HARNESS DOESN'T SLIDE LIKE NORMAL ARRANGEMENT.

The fact is that I sit so reclined in this boat that most of the normal straps aren't doing anything and just get in the way. Also it meant that normal race car seats and HANS devices wouldn't work. It's hard to know where to start and stop in the safety of this boat. Strapping in has its own issues. Helmets and neck braces can't be bad any any event.

- We also bought some more wood to build the new viewing/filming platform out on speed-spot.

The wind has been very flat. It's annoying but part of the game. We also took the opportunity to head North-East up to Damaraland to see what Namibia has the most of... wide open spaces. It is truly a spectacular country. We drove for two days and only saw one car when we crossed a river bed. We were out in the wild as against a game park and saw elephants, giraffe, Ostrich, Oryx etc and even the very rare leopard and Black Rhino. Two days out there feels like a weeks worth of adventure. You couldn't hope for a better way to get away from it all. The self-drive adventures on your doorstep are as good as you could hope for and as wild as you want it. On the last night there was 8 of us hiding in a bush shower cubicle as a herd of elephants passed through the camp-site. We had a Satellite phone so could keep up to speed with the weather. We saw today was shaping up so came back yesterday to finish off the little jobs in preparation. The forecast is constantly changing even on the short-term. Yesterday this whole week was looking fantastic but even that has changed this morning. Today still looks promising so we will take it one day at a time.

I understand that people want a lot of news. Sometimes I don't think our 'routine', day to day, standby stuff is that interesting in comparison to the high speed action that it leads into. I like it that people are this into it. I'll try not to leave you hanging so long. If nothing is written, it will never be because we are holding anything back. We don't believe in doing that.

The forecast is up to 26 knots today. It's sunny and the wind is already building. We're not going to miss this one. Come on Namibia, show us what else you have plenty of.

Cheers, Paul.

 We finally got out on the water today after overcoming a few technical issues involving the electronics and some of the sailing hardware. Man-of-the-match goes to Alex Adams for digging deep into the hearts of the COSWORTH data loggers and managing to breath life into them at the 11th hour. I wouldn't have gone sailing without them as the data is simply that important for us to be able to understand the boat and what she needs. We always have to be prepared for the boat making a quantum performance leap with each modification we make and therefore we need to be ready to cope with it.

As the wind built it was obvious it was going to be a good day. I was happy to be heading out. It's too easy to make excuses why you shouldn't sail. The team is already getting slicker at their jobs and that alone is a good reason to hit the water. 

The wind was only around 18-20 when we got to the top of the course but it was sunny and looked promising. We held on for our first run. My plan was to do one solid run that would provide us with a heap of data which we could go away with and digest. Basically we wanted to get a solid understanding of where we were at. After yesterdays run I was pretty sure that we would go faster. We got virtually no data yesterday apart from the basics of speed and a roughish wind estimate.

The wind built a little so we went for it. Our timing was spot-on. The wind was gusting to 25. VESTAS Sailrocket 2 wanted to go. I am now more familiar with how to get her started. I had a good long conversation with Chris and Wang from AEROTROPE a few days ago and they suggested I should be sheeting in a lot more in my initial start up. I did this and steered the boat accordingly. The idea is to bring the wing in so all the section are aligned and complimenting each other... then I sail the boat into the wind until the wind attaches to the wing and unstalls it. Well whatever I did (and it's recorded from four different cameras in video and stills and on the COSWORTH data loggers) it worked because VSR2 took off today. Any worries we had about mid range speed issues was dispelled as we accelerated fast and effortlessly through 40 knots. In fact, VESTAS Sailrocket 2 accelerated so easily that I sheeted out before I turned down the course for fear of what she might try and do. We want to make solid improvements... not just burn it up to the scene of the next mighty wipeout! She really came alive down the course. I was checking all the key points out. The leeward pod wasn't flying but neither should it be until we are doing 50.

THE LOCAL 'WINDIES' WATCH IN ANTICIPATION. THEY'VE SEEN SOM OF OUR BIGGEST RUNS BEFORE AND THEY'LL SEE THE ONES STILL TO COME. ALWAYS FUN TO PUT ON A SHOW FOR THE BOYS.

NOW THAT LOOKS LIGHT ON ITS FEET AND A PICTURE OF EFFICIENCY. FANTASTIC!

LESS SPRAY OFF THE MAIN FOIL THAN EXPECTED WHICH SUGGESTS A CLEAN FLOW NEAR THE SURFACE.

The steering was responsive, the sheeting was very responsive. It was obvious we were over 40 knots. I was happy with the fact that we were now at a stage where the boat was just simply working. We haven't seen the outright performance but it will come. It appears that we have no mid range bogey man with tis new foil... unless they are waiting further down the path. We all figured that this new foil should start to work properly at around 40-45 knots. We are there now. This foil has no top speed limits other than it's own structural limits. All the issues that limited the outright speed potential of boats like VESTAS Sailrocket 1, Hydroptere and Maquarie Innovations do not apply to this foil. Yes, I am excited by this. I feel we are witnessing something special for the first time. I'm pretty sure that no-one has ever made these foils go this fast on a sailing vessel ever before.

I'll leave it at that for now. We still have to digest the data... and of course we still have to go a fair bit faster... but well, I reckon we will.

It was a pleasure to call the team and give them the good news of some great progress.

Tomorrow does not look so windy but Tuesday is forecast to Honk. We will use tomorrow to calibrate evrything and really polish up on some of the details. New fittings should arrive by courier and we will be ready.

The 50 knot bottle of champagne awaits.

Cheers, Paul

 Just a short update to let everyone know that things are fine and that we are simply being kept ashore by light winds.

Whilst we would have ventured out in these lighter conditions with the first boat as we worked her through her lengthy development process, we simply need more wind for the stage we are at with the new boat. Anything over 22 knots is good.

As usual, we use the lighter days to work through a list of modifications, maintenance and improvements.

One of the mods is to increase the area of the front planing surface. This should assist us in the early stages of acceleration where the boat currently 'shovels' along a little until she eventually breaks free and begins to plane at around 8 knots. The tendency for the boat to push the nose down as she accelerates has prevented us from sailing with two people but we hope the larger front planing surface will enable this... and we can really start scaring some people.

We tooke VSR2 over to speed spot a couple of days on what turned out to be one of the biigest tides we have seen here.

There was also a good swell running so we decided it would be pretty risky to launch. There was a lot of water moving around which could make it hard just to hold the boat as the wing went up.

The waves were actually washing through the old timing hut and after many years of standing up to the harsh, windswept and highly corrosive conditions on speed-spot, we knew we were witnessing her demise. Anyone who has come out to help us knows what a vital little piece of sanctuary this hut is against the relentless wind and blowing sand out there. I've spent a lot of time in that little cube. I hung out there when I first came to see what Walvis Bay was all about nearly five years ago and it has featured in every run we have done since. For a while it was the only reference on an otherwise featureless terrain. As it has been the scene of many emotional and project defining moments, I'm quite fond of it's stark little shape. I'm also surprised that it's still there as it really was meant as a temporary structure for a speed week 6-7 years ago.

A few days previously we had knocked her back in basic shape hoping to use her one more time... but the tides and swell had other plans. We were witnessing her demise and it is time to move to pastures new.

The above two pics are from a couple of days ago. The waves had started to pull her apart.

So here are some photos from happier days.

Now we will build a balcony over the new 'igloo' and take down the old square timing hut... before it falls down.

As I type this the wind is piping up and beginning to whistle in the palms outside. Thus we are gearing up to get out there. I think we will get some sailing in today. Gotta go.

Cheers, Paul.

p.s. it's bloody cold out here today!

 The team all arrived safe and sound yesterday. Everyone has enjoyed a big feed and a long sleep... so straight into the sailing program we go. It's a pleasure to turn the sailing status to green at the top of this page. A lot goes on behind the secenes to allow that to happen.

We rigged up the wing today and raised and lowered it a couple of times so people could get a basic feel of it.

The idea today is to ease the team into the handling of the boat. I have to remember how 'foreign' this whole experience can be to a newcomer. The handling of the boat is just one aspect of the program.

So today we will launch VESTAS Sailrocket 2 and tow her across the lagoon to speed-spot. We will raise the wing and launch her onto the course, hopefully in modest winds around 18-20 knots. I don't think she will get going as we already have the high speed, cavitating foil in and that needs a little more breeze. We will then recover the boat off the course and lower the wing. I expect the breeze to pick up today and for it to get near 30 knots again... so we won't push it.

I don't mind if it takes a little while for everyone to get comfortable in their roles. As soon as everyone is comfortable we will begin to ramp it up a little. I think it will only be a couple of days.

There are many aspects to a days sailing that people need to contribute to including photography, filming, data logging, Support boat duties, comms etc. Each aspect requires equipment in place and a certain protocol to be followed. There is little use doing high speed runs if it is being filmed or the data isn't being logged.

So here we go. As soon as we have had lunch we will be in the MUSTO drysuits and into the familiar waters of Walvis Bay.

The halyards are just starting their clanking rattle outside... I hope we aren't too late. Oh well, it is day one so just launching itself will be educating and progress of sorts. I get the feeling that we won't be short of windy days this year.

The wing is already a mess from the sand blown over the last two days. No point cleaning it just so it can get dirty again today.

Let's see how we go.

Cheers, Paul.