World's fastest sailing boat

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

THE WAY FORWARD

Obviously commencing the build is quite a significant stage for the project but we still need a lot of help to see this thing through.

In order to put all the pieces together we either need quite a bit of money or a lot of various product sponsors. The fact is that the project will need money at some stage as the logistics of getting the boat to the right place at the right time and to deal with all the problems that will no doubt confront us are not to be underestimated. It was one of the first things emphasized to me by members of the Yellow Pages (current record holders) many years ago and clearly demonstrated through our model testing.

The BBC have come down to meet us and watch the model. They are very interested in many aspects of the project and are well down the line to doing a documentary of the project as it falls squarely into so many categories of interest such as science/technology, history, human endeavour, sports etc. This will be of great benefit to all involved with the project and very helpful to Angus in his search for a title sponsor. We continue to film everything on broadcast quality video nonetheless.

We have been approached by companies wishing to offer product which will be very useful to the boat. The fact remains that this is only a small boat and does not require much in the way of sails, deck hardware, rigging etc. Although it is not a maxi-yacht in size, the impact and profile this project may achieve throughout sailing may well be of ‘Maxi’ proportions. A little bit of help at this early stage will go along way to speeding up the whole design and build process. A tender for product sponsors is being drawn up explaining our situation relative to different areas of the project. This will be put out to all potential sponsors to see what those that are interested can offer besides just ‘product’.

Talks are continuing with Southampton University in relation to developing what we feel will be the critical part of any teams success in pushing back the sailing speed envelope and that is the foils. The ultimate speed of this boat depends largely on the efficiency of the underwater surfaces and the University has shown a keen interest in assisting our program in this department.

Whilst all of the above is going on we will continue building high quality ‘female’ moulds for all major components as the detailed design work of what will finally emerge carries on alongside.

IN CONCLUSION

Whilst the search for sponsors continues we have enough to commence the build without compromising the final product.The project has begun to gather momentum and we have had to hold back some of the outside enthusiasm until we are ready for it. As the boat takes shape in Woolston it will no doubt create a lot of interest in the project which will encourage many people and companies to offer help and support just to be a part of something as exciting as this. There are other projects out there currently striving for the same record. We remain very confident in our design and wish them success. If they ‘raise the hurdle’ then we believe that through design evolution that

SAILROCKET will still achieve its aim to be the fastest. This will happen… in fact, it IS happening.

Paul Larsen (playing with hammer) and designer Malcolm Barnsley