World's fastest sailing boat

Paul Larsen brings us up to date with his Sailrocket speed sailing project

Model testing has been something that we have never underestimated the importance of. If I hadn’t seen this model performing myself then I doubt I would be involved now. The model showcases many aspects important to the project.

- It demonstrates the obvious potential of the concept hitting speeds which indicate that the full size version will reach its targets of over 50 knots.

- It shows just how difficult and time consuming it is to find the right place with the right conditions. We must have been to various locations well over two dozen times only to have one thing or the other conspire against us. This will also feature greatly for the ‘big’ boat and is one of the most important considerations for the projects success.

- It gives us an insight into how the ‘big’ boat might behave in unusual situations which may save us a lot of time and money down the track in that little handling ‘quirks’ will be anticipated, understood and accounted for before they happen.

- It constantly inspires and motivates us to build the real thing.

The model has been achieving speeds correlating to performance predictions.

So far we have not managed to hit the target speed of 18 knots for the full length of the course. We are however, in no doubt that we have seen the boat hit this speed in stable bursts and feel that it is more a case of waiting for perfect conditions than changing the model. The best run we have seen has been at an average of 16.1 knots but even this started off slow and finished fast indicating that the end of the run was somewhere around the target. Finding perfect conditions for the model may be even harder than for the real thing as we are dealing with the very boundary layer of wind to water. Knowing exactly what’s happening with the helm of the boat is also very hard with remote control not giving the feedback that you would get sitting in the real thing.

We will continue model testing but feel that we have seen enough to commence the build of the full-size version. There are many design aspects which the model can still demonstrate. We are very interested in learning about things such as air rudders and wing sails which will most likely feature in the future development of the design.

A full-size mock up of the section of the hull has also taken shape so as we can work on the layout of the controls and make sure that it is a workable and efficient space.

One thing is for sure and that’s that the real thing will be no bigger than it need be. The mock up will be fitted out alongside the ‘real’ build in Woolston.

The model