Speed sailing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Speed sailing is the art of sailing a craft as fast as possible over a predetermined route, and having its overall or peak speed recorded and accredited by a regulatory body. The term usually refers to sailing on water, even though sailing on land and ice is progressively faster because of the lower friction involved.
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[edit] The quest for speed
In the 1970s, high performance sailing really kicked off. Today, much money is spent in a continuous effort to beat world sailing speed records.
While it seems impossible to the casual observer, mosthigh performance sail craft can actually sail significantly faster than the measured windspeed; well over twice the windspeed in many cases. This is because the energy extracted for sailing comes from the speed differential between the wind and water, not the wind and hull. To understand how this is possible, we must consider that there are different ways to define wind. Apparent wind is moving air felt by the boat and generated by its movement. True wind is the windspeed as measured by a stationary observer (using, for example, an anemometer). Apparent wind is the vector sum of wind caused by the boat's movement and true wind. The speed of a sail craft is more closely related to the apparent wind than to the true wind alone. Thus, vessels can sail faster than the measured, 'true' windspeed, on appropriate points of sail, such as a broad or beam reach.
[edit] Boats used
The craft used vary from single sailor windsurfers, up to maxicatamarans with crews of up to fifteen people. Kite assisted craft are used (see here for examples). Many short course record attempts are made with boats based on the classic Proa boat layout. A more recent development is to use the hydrofoil principle: this allows the hull to lift out of the water, and thereby increases speed.
[edit] Windsurfing
Finian Maynard, an Irish sailor is the current fastest accredited sailor on any water craft, having averaged 48.7kts on the 10th April 2005 while windsurfing on a 500 metre course at Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, France.
[edit] Around the world records
Bruno Peyron, from France, smashed the round the world record in his maxi-catamaran Orange II, in March 2005. He completed the circumnavigation in an astonishing 50 days, 16 hours. The boat averaged 22.2 knots over the 31,071 mile course.
The following is a history of recent circumnavigation records:
2005 : Bruno Peyron (FRA/Orange II) 50 days 16 h 20 min 04 sec.
2004 : Steve Fossett 58 days 9 hours.
2001 : Grant Dalton (Club Med) 62 days.
1997 : Olivier de Kersauson (FRA/Sport Elec) 71 days 14 h 22 min 08 sec.
[edit] Longest distance run in 24 hours
The records for the longest distance sailed within 24 hours are also recorded by the WSSRC. There are different categories:
[edit] Any yacht, any number of crew
Boat: "Orange II", catamaran, 120 ft; crew: Bruno Peyron and a crew of 10; date: 22nd/23rd August 2004; distance: 706.2 nm; average speed: 29.42 kts.
[edit] Any yacht, single-handed
Boat: "Idec", trimaran, 90ft; Francis Joyon; date: 2nd/3rd July 2005; distance: 543 nm; average speed: 22.62 kts.
[edit] Monohull, any number of crew
Boat: "Movistar", 70-feet-VOR; crew: Bouwe Bekking and a crew of 9; date: 4th/5th April 2005; distance: 530.19 nm; average speed: 22.09 kts.
[edit] Monohull, single-handed
Boat: AT Racing, Open 60; Alex Thomson; date: 11th/12th December 2003; distance: 468.72 nm; average speed: 19.53 kts.
All these records were established in the North Atlantic.
