Speed sailing

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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, most high 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 by reducing friction.

[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.

5th March 2008: Frenchman, three times windsurfing world champion, Antoine Albeau today smashed the 500 metre world record with an astonishing 49.09 knots (92km/h) on the Sainte Marie de la Mer canal in Southern France.

[edit] Kitesurfing

Kitesurfers are getting close to beating the outright 500m sailing record. Alex Caizergues of France set a new kiteboard 500m World Record of 47.77 knots in October 2007 at Luderitz in Namibia, just a little shy of Finian Maynards outright sailing record.

Immediately after Alex Caizerques's record-setting run, Sjouke Bredenkamp of South Africa set a new outright 500m world speed for women of 42.35kts. This beats the previous sailing record set by Karin Jaggi of Switzerland on a windsurfer.

5th March 2008: Frenchman, three times windsurfing world champion, Antoine Albeau today smashed the 500 metre world record with an astonishing 49.09 knots (92km/h) on the Sainte Marie de la Mer canal in Southern France.

[edit] Around the world records

[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 11; date: 2nd/3rd July 2006; distance: 766.8 nm; average speed: 31.95 kts.

[edit] Any yacht, single-handed

Boat: "Brossard", trimaran, 60 ft; Yvan Bourgnon; date: 6th/7th August 2006; distance: 610.45 nm; average speed: 25.76 kts.

[edit] Monohull, any number of crew

Boat: "ABN Amro Two", 70-feet-VOR; crew: Sebastien Josse and a crew of 9; date: 10th/11th January 2006; distance: 562.96 nm; average speed: 23.45 kts.

[edit] Monohull, single-handed

Boat: Hugo Boss, Open 60; Alex Thomson; date: 6th/7th December 2007; distance: 500.01 nm; average speed: 20.83 kts.

[edit] External links