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Re:World Speed Record Chase - 2008/08/06 17:49
As Australia’s Olympic athletes prepare for the realisation of a four year dream, back home another long held dream is finally taking shape.
Four years ago well known offshore and skiff sailor Sean Langman thought up the concept for a radical design to set a new world speed sailing record and crack the holy grail of 50 knots, regarded as the equivalent to breaking the aeronautical sound barrier.
Following a laborious build and modification program, which has easily swallowed up 3,000 work hours, and three months of sea trials, Wot Rocket’s official attempt on the current record is about to get underway on Botany Bay, Sydney.
Australian World Sailing Speed Record Council commissioner John Brooks will be on standby from Monday 11 to Sunday 17 August, the seven day window nominated by the Wot Rocket project team. Each day or some days during the window, depending on the forecast, Brooks will be notified an attempt is going to take place that day and will arrive on site to check the GPS’s calibration and ratify the time should Wot Rocket be successful in its record chase.
The current 500m world speed sailing record of 49.09 knots (90.9 kilometres per hour) was set in March in France by French sail boarder Antoine Albeau.
The last time an Australian held this particular record was in 1993 when the asymmetric trimaran called Yellow Pages Endeavour set a then fastest time of 46.52 knots.
Schedule
Wot Rocket is today being removed from the exhibition hall at Darling Harbour where it was a special attraction at the Sydney International Boat Show.
Over the next two days Wot Rocket will have its systems reinstalled at Noakes at Woolwich before the team, including a new co-pilot, return to Kurnell for final sea trials this weekend.
Former co-pilot Martin Thompson left for an extended overseas holiday early this week. His replacement, likely to be someone already closely associated with Wot Rocket, will be announced shortly.
Long range forecast
The long range forecast is promising for this weekend and the first half of next week. Wot Rocket’s ideal wind range is 15-20 knots and starting Saturday through to Wednesday next week, Sydney’s traditional winter westerlies look like coming to the Wot Rocket party.
Saturday 9 August: WSW-SW/15-20
Sunday 10 August: W/15-20
Monday 11 August: W-WSW/15-20
Tuesday 12 August: SW/20-15-10
Wednesday 13 August: W-WSW/15-20
The Wot Rocket Team
Pilot, creator and sponsor of Wot Rocket – Sean Langman, 16 time Rolex Sydney Hobart veteran, most recently as the skipper of the pocket maxi AAPT/Grundig, 49er & 18 foot skiff champion
Co-pilot – TBC
Designer – Andy Dovell, holds a Masters in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering & is part of the famous Australian design team Murray Burns Dovell
Project Manager – Josh Alexander, has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and is a professional sailor with 10+ years experience with carbon fibre mast design and construction
Principle sponsor – Graeme Wood, yachtsman and founder of www.wotif.com
Record attempt – photo/TV opportunity for Sydney media
A media boat will be on standby this weekend for sea trials (Wot Rocket possibly sailing Saturday, definitely Sunday) and all of next week.
During the seven day window for official attempts, August 11-17, a decision will be made by 7.30am each day as to whether Wot Rocket will make an attempt on the record that day.
If you would like to be notified each morning whether an attempt is going ahead or not, please send back an email indicating this, and also how you wish to be contacted ie. mobile or email.
Wot is Wot Rocket?
Wot Rocket is half sailboat and half sailplane; a nine metre long canoe style hull with two tiny foils, each about a sixth of the size of a Moth foil and a nine metre rigid sail, then a transverse beam out to an aerodynamic twin pod crew compartment.
The transverse wing is like an aircraft, the foils have 15 degrees of movement each but only a few degrees will be used at speed. The front foil provides lift, basically the height above the runway, just enough to keep the foil in the water, while the aft foil provides pitch and steering.
The Rocket part of the name comes from the fact it has a wing extension which is used to generate more horsepower to get the pod free of the water. Then, like the Saturn V rocket which jettisons parts as it races out of the earth’s gravitational pull, the top wing section can be fired off.
Wot Rocket was built using carbon fibre with closed cell foam core in the hull and Nomex in the wing. Its length is 9 metres, width is 7.5m and height is 12m and it weighs 320kg without the crew.
The difference between this sailboat/sail plane and any that have come before it is that it will be attempting to break through the water speed barrier using a technology as yet untried on any sailing craft – supercavitation.
Wot Rocket sponsors Noakes Boat & Shipyards and Graeme Wood, founder of Australasia's number one accommodation website Wotif.com, Nexus, Warringah Plastics, Harken, Gurit Australia and Superyachting.
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