The Sailrocket team have been developing their concepts for an offshore sailing boat which utilizes the innovation that helped them smash the outright world speed sailing record. They believe the craft they are working on can re-define what high performance wind driven boats can do across the oceans of the world.

In November 2012, the Sailrocket speed sailing programme* delivered on 11 years of dedicated work. Whilst the last run stunned the sailing world, the deep satisfaction within the team came from the fact that the run proved not only that their theories were sound and the numbers were good... but that they, as a team, could turn them into reality.

Although speed sailing provided a great environment to demonstrate both the innovative concepts and the teams potential, the next challenge should be to demonstrate its practical application.

Whilst they will reference todays benchmark boats, the team is looking much further down the track. They believe that these proven concepts can be used to make faster, more stable craft that can be practically sailed from A to B in the broad range of conditions you can expect to find offshore.

Paul Larsen - Our passion with sailing goes beyond just a sporting pursuit. We have a deep fascination to see what is possible with the forces of wind and water. Speed sailing offered us a brilliant unrestricted canvas. We were free to use whatever designs we figured could best get the job done. We chose a concept that could take on the challenges of the future rather than just aiming at the standards of the day. Whilst the boats we created were pretty impractical one trick ponies, they did a great job of proving a point. We learnt a lot more than just how to go fast. We know the core concepts that yielded such a huge jump in outright speed are also very efficient, stable and scalable. We know how they can be applied to ocean crossing yachts for similar gains.

After finally achieving such a long sought after goal, I personally wondered if I could muster the energy and motivation to go again. I gave myself time to let the answer come naturally. I looked around at what was out there and realised that there is so much to be done and that we are perfectly placed to take it on. Ideas that had been pushed to the side in pursuit of outright speed came flooding back. Ideas became drawings and drawings became working models. We started putting numbers into our well refined velocity prediction programs (VPP’s) and the ones that came back out are very exciting. They represent a big jump forward on many levels and I can’t ignore them. I sat there with the first scale model of Sailrocket 2 on my living room floor. Next to it was the bigger model of our next concept. We had lived and breathed every detail of turning that first model into full-scale, 65+ knot reality and it thrilled me to think that we could do the same with the new numbers on the bigger one.

On one hand it is still just a model and a concept… and a bunch of numbers in a VPP… but what it really represents is much more than that. It’s a road that beckons. On a personal level, the value of our last success was way more than the rush of the final ride or the name on the certificate that hangs on the wall. It was the thrill of the chase that we lived with every day. It was the feeling that every day we were closer to making a better world. That is what we crave and that is why when we climb one mountain we look for another.

A large part of the challenge ahead will be in navigating the path between what is theoretically possible and what is practically achievable. Whilst we need to take bold steps, they need to be done in a manner that allows logical progression. This cannot be a simple leap of faith. We have good reason to believe that the new craft provides the perfect platform to do this. It aims to be all round fast in all the conditions you can expect to encounter at sea… with a few big tricks up its sleeve. The project will be structured in a manner that gives our choices the best chance to demonstrate their merits… and then demonstrate them in the most convincing way possible.

The main purpose of sharing our plans now is because we need to find partners whose passion can help carry the burdens of the journey ahead. On one hand I would prefer to keep developing the concept in secrecy but the fact is that we now need the resource that others can bring. We have no doubt that there are people out there we have never met who understand and would like to share our journey.

It will take time, money and patience to get where we are going. Our team can only bring so much to the table however we know there are individuals and companies out there who are as keen as us to take on the responsibility of the future and make it happen… not wait for someone else to maybe do it one day. We need to connect with them.

The response we got for our speed sailing achievement was very emotive. The respect and offers of support from people we have the utmost admiration for was humbling. I realised that this journey we are on can be a fantastic focal point for a lot of very talented people to do what they are really passionate about. This will be difficult and our resolve will be tested. We need to do our homework very carefully and choose well who we travel with.

For now we will hold back on the specific targets we are aiming at and what the full-scale craft will actually look like. We need to have more in place before either is revealed. We know already what we are proposing is possible. The journey we are offering is to be the ones to make it real.

*Sailrocket 2 currently holds the outright world speed sailing record at 65.45 knots. She is designed and structured to go much faster. The project has no further sponsorship obligations and remains an ideal platform to develop the next generation of high speed foils.

The VESTAS Sailrocket 2 project will be returning to the waters of Walvis Bay, Namibia this September with a new hydrofoil package which they hope will bring them an Outright world speed sailing record.

The record currently stands at 55.65 knots (64 mph) and is held by American Kite Surfer Rob Douglas. VESTAS Sailrocket 2 was built in the VESTAS R+D facilities on the Isle of Wight and launched in the Medina River in March 2011. The project then relocated to Namibia where ideal conditions occur on a regular basis.

From its launch in the UK, VESTAS Sailrocket 2 rapidly progressed up the speed sailing ladder and after only 23 runs, hit speeds over 50 knots down the magical mile long course at Walvis Bay's 'Speed-spot'. The team then made continual improvements to the boat and tried a number of underwater foil configurations but seemed to be hitting a 'glass ceiling' in performance in the low 50 knot speed range regardless of which foil options they tried or how much wind they sailed in.

THE CAVITATION BARRIER

Chris Hornzee-Jones, AEROTROPE/VSR2 designer - Once you start going through the water over 50 knots you are going to start encountering a phenomenon called cavitation. This can be likened to the hydrodynamic equivalent of the 'Sound Barrier'. The property of the water changes as it turns from liquid to vapour on certain parts of the foil. This requires a very different approach to how you design them. The problem gets even more complicated as air from the surface also tries to get sucked down onto the foil and cause it to lose grip. This mixture of air, vapour and very high-speed water is all very dynamic and extremely hard to model by computer or even in high-speed flow tanks. Most projects to date have simply pushed conventional foil theory to the limits and that's why speed sailing is stuck at the current speeds in the low 50's. VESTAS Sailrocket 2 was designed from the outset to be a breakthrough boat. It is designed to be an ideal testing platform for trialling new foil concepts which will allow us to break through this 'glass ceiling' and perform at speeds well over 60 knots.

Paul Larsen, Australian project manager/pilot of VSR2 - This is the second craft we have developed for this record. We saw the potential of the concept revealed with our first boat but this version is aiming to use that potential to knock down some of sailings biggest physical barriers. If we can do that then the world records will come with the territory. From my perspective in the cockpit, this version of the boat is a delight to sail. It is much less traumatic than the first boat. VSR2 is just ambling down the course at 50 knots in a very stable manner. Hopefully these new foils we have designed will allow her to really show her potential. I'm sure she won't feel so docile over 60 knots. I think she's patiently waiting for us to gain the understanding to release her from all the drag and give her free rein.

VESTAS Sailrocket 2 is indeed a radical craft. It looks perhaps more like a plane than a boat because a lot of attention has been focused on the aerodynamic efficiency and stability of the craft however, she still relies very much on the hydrodynamics to allow her to carve across the wind. It is based on a concept where all the overturning forces typically associated with sailing craft are removed. This allows the boat to use the wind created by its own speed to generate a lot of its ultimate power without actually getting overpowered. Whilst VSR2 might actually be sailing in only 25 knots of real wind, at full speed the lightweight, carbon fibre boat and its rigid wing sail feels like it is sailing in over 60 knots of wind and yet doesn't require traditional systems of weights and levers to remain stable.

Malcolm Barnsley, VESTAS test engineer/VSR2 design team - We are delighted with the way the boat has developed to date. It has been pushed very hard by the sailing team and has shown time and again that it is a great platform for taking new foil designs to their limit in the 'real' world. We have learnt an immense amount already with this boat. Even though our first version of very high speed foils was shown not to be the answer, they also showed us certain aspects that were right. With the new foils we have incorporated these aspects and hopefully used our understanding to design out the parts that were holding us back. We are heading into new territory here. It's a dark alley and of course it is hard to be certain of what lies ahead until you illuminate it with your own knowledge. We have followed a path that seems logical and have chosen what we also hope is the safer, reliable option rather than the extreme one. The potential of this boat is enormous but if these foils allow us just to reveal a portion of that potential... then world records should fall.

The new foil is currently being manufactured in Bristol. Team members will shortly head down to Namibia where VESTAS Sailrocket 2 is currently located. They will assemble the boat and base in preparation for the arrival of the rest of the team and the new foil. The focus will be on developing the new foil and some of its 'add-ons' to see if it truly is the missing piece of the puzzle that will allow the team to realise their dream. The team is still looking for answers and they know that nothing is certain until proven beyond doubt in the real world. If the new foils do what they are supposed to do, a World record attempt will be booked with the WSSRC (governing body) in the October-December period this year.

Updates will be posted regularly on sailrocket.com

Images: vestassailrocket2.smugmug.com/

Contact:Paul Larsen

Paularsen1@aol.com

+44 (0)79 4684 1929

Skype paul.larsen1

The SailRocket Team today launches its second-generation speed sailing boat from East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Vestas SailRocket 2 is designed to be significantly faster than its predecessor, with the ultimate aim of breaking the ‘Outright World Speed Sailing Record’.

We welcome our many friends and supporters to visit our updated website at www.sailrocket.com, containing first shots of the new boat, a description of the design philosophy, and photographs taken throughout the many months of construction.

Immediately after today's launch the team will prepare the new boat for shipping to Walvis Bay, Namibia, where sailing record attempts will begin in April.

Register to receive Vestas SailRocket updates, and please leave your comments on today's launch here.

This summer, the huge ‘Union Jack’ doors of the Columbine shed in East Cowes will part and true to the shed's origins, one more and perhaps final, amazing flying boat will emerge. The UK based team behind the VESTAS SAILROCKET project are building a new boat to finish the job of setting the outright world speed sailing record. The new craft will be an evolution of the innovative concept upon which their original craft was based.

The new boat is being built in the VESTAS R&D facilities at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. It will incorporate many features to make it more versatile and practical to sail at world record speeds in a wider range of winds and sea states. The team will launch the new boat in East Cowes in time for the British summer and hope to carry out testing in the UK over the following months. If initial trials go well, the team will endeavour to bring the world record back to UK waters.

Pilot/project leader, Paul Larsen- “This represents a fantastic opportunity to develop a real breakthrough concept. Our first interpretation of it did a brilliant job of demonstrating the potential. I’m very proud of what we have achieved but also very aware that we haven’t finished the job. I personally can’t live with that. The first boat did what it was supposed to do... but by the time it did, the record had moved on. As it stands we still need to go two knots faster to break the current world record. I still believe our first boat could break that record but I also know she is near her limits. As a team we are now well positioned to design and build a much better, safer and above all faster boat which is more suitable for the challenges to come.

“The fact is that in the world of outright speed sailing, there is nothing of real interest to us below 50 knots. 50 knots has to be a minimum cruise speed for our next boat and it must be able to do it in a wide range of wind and sea states. Some of the problem areas require us to come up with new solutions as we can’t simply force conventional thinking onto an unconventional craft. We have put a lot more effort into making the boat stable in unusual situations. Our first version was a good boat but a lousy aeroplane. The next boat will be stable in both environments. No matter what we come up with... we will be pushing it right to the limit... and be able to bring a passenger along for the ride!

“It’s an ideal situation to be working so closely with VESTAS right in the heart of their R&D facilities. We use the same tools and speak the same language. The only difference is that when we take our design to the limit, I have to strap myself into it!”

Designer, Malcolm Barnsley- “Many valuable lessons have been learned. It’s ideal to be going straight in with a follow up boat while these are fresh in our minds. So many of the unknowns are now known and we have a far greater understanding of the concept and the novel issues surrounding it. Design-wise this provides a strong foundation which gives us the opportunity to deal with the big issues right from the start. Nonetheless we will maintain a highly modular and adjustable boat to best deal with any new issues that might arise.

“There will always be problems when exploring the limits, but we are confident these will be relatively minor in comparison to what we have had to deal with in the past. With the resources, knowledge and skill available, the development period to get above the current record will be very short indeed.”

President of Vestas Technology R&D, Finn Strom Madsen- “It has been a great ride so far. We are both trying to efficiently and practically extract as much energy from the wind as we can. Similarly, we share a passion to be the best in the world at what we do. We are looking forward to the new boat and have great faith that it will set the outright world speed sailing record.”

VESTAS SAILROCKET 1 will be on public display in all her battle scarred glory at the upcoming RYA VOLVO Dinghy Show, Alexandra Palace, March 6-7th .

Achievements to date– Emerged in 2008 as fastest sailing ‘boat’ in the world, Current B class world record holder, Best 500 meter average 49.38 knots, Best peak speed 52.78 knots (60.75mph).

The current Outright world record sits at 51.36 knots (59.1 mph) and is held by the French ‘Hydroptere’ project.

The outright world speed sailing record is set by taking the average speed of the craft between two points set 500 meters apart. All records are ratified by the sports governing body, the WSSRC (World Speed Sailing Record Council).