I have just arrived back from the airport to pick up the rest of the team after spending the morning putting the V8 on the boat... well, the wing-sail anyway.

So everyone is on site including the WSSRC commissioner who is here to oversee our record attempt. The wing looks in pretty good shape considering the life it has had. It's been a real love/hate affair with that beast... but like us, it's still here and shaping up for the last round... so it has my respect.

The wind has departed us for the past couple of days which has made conditions perfect for preparing the boat and the site. Things have come together surprisingly quickly. Helena and Jeff have brought a new care package to keep us busy. Thanks to 'Ball' at MUSTO for ensuring that we got a complete set of seals for the drysuits. There's a production line going out by the boat at the  moment sorting out that little issue.

So, WHAT'S THE PLAN TO GOING 4 KNOTS FASTER THAN WE HAVE EVER GONE?

I believe that we are in a strong position to make that final push. I feel that we finally have a craft which is developed enough to allow us humans to explore the concepts limits... in this configuration at least. We have dealt with many of the big issues and have managed to overcome them. The boat does have some basic flaws. In case you haven't noticed... it has a slight pitch instability that will bring us dramatically unstuck if it is left unchecked i.e. the flip. We can reduce it's tendency to want to do this... but never eliminate that tendency. That would take a new boat altogether. We have implemented a whole range of mods to try and reduce the liklihood of it... and I'm pretty confident in these. Each one of these will slightly reduce the performance though... but only in tiny fractions.

As long as they add safety... and stop that problem... we should have a basic craft that will allow us to push to near structural limits. The new steering system is still working brilliantly and I have total confidence in it at high speed.

As this will be the last record attempt for this boat, I am determined to wring it out. I won't necessarily stick to the pure 'efficiency' mantra. I will try and make runs in conditions we would normally consider too strong. If this is the case then I will have to make sure that I sail VESTAS SAILROCKET very precisely. No more 'bronco' rides way off the beach. I will have to peg it right on the shore, line it up and then sheet on a little more gently. This boat/concept jumps from Jekyll to Hyde when we start pushing the wind range. I still think, as does Malcolm, that we can do it in the predicted strength of around 22-23 knots... but the goal is outright speed... not just efficiency. We will only get a certain number of days that will be record worthy in this 28 day session... so we can't afford to be picky... and we can't always wait to later... because there is an equal chance that later will not come. This means we must be ready to push hard from the outset. I will do a shakedown run first just to check everything was as we left it... and then I will approach every run with a vengeance.

It's only four knots... in a boat that, for all I know, might do it easy.

One of the difficult and 'ugh-known' aspects will be the case where we go TOO fast. If I sail it in overpowering conditions then the boat might try and overspeed to a point where the main foil has big cavitation issues. I don't have a very precise feel of what speed I am really doing. There are no displays in front of me... and even if there were, I probably wouldn't be able to react quick enough. In order to average a 52 knot run, I will have to hit peaks somewhere over 55. The foil, in theory anyway, can get to near 60 without cavitating... but add fences and the variables of the real world and we start to get rely on speculation... and hope. So we are heading for a very narrow band of speeds right at the ragged edge. I don't honestly know what would happen if we suffered a full foil cavitation. I imagine that the nose would get pulled hard to leeward and up a little. If the leeward pod with the wing attached lifts first, then we are safe. This is because a roll to windward gives the main beam a negative angle of attack and this means that she won't flip over. If the nose comes up with the leeward pod... then I will go flying again... and be counting on the skills I recently acquired in a gliding course to get me back down again.

We will only do 500 meter record runs as we are only chasing the outright record. I will use the whole mile long course to get me set-up, do the run and slow down. I'm pretty sure it's all up to me in the cockpit now. VESTAS SAILROCKET is ready.

Cheers, Paul.