L'HYDROPTERE HAS EXCEEDED THE 45 KNOT BARRIER

Sweet!

And it only took a 6o foot boat and how many millions of dollars to try and beat a sailboard worth less than $5,000.00

Ultra Cool boat no doubt, I love seeing the envelope pushed like this... but I would have to say the sailboard has it beat hands down when it comes to accessibility and bang for your buck.

Regards,
Bob

Agreed, but the kit will be more than $5000. Speaking to my local chandler (and windsurfer) and a top of the range carbon mast is £1000 - that is quite a lot of the $5000 gone !

You better start ordering your windsurfing gear from the US...you guys are getting ripped off big time if your spending that much on a carbon mast...a top of the line fiberspar race mast

retails

for under $600 here...lower street prices available...

Regards,
Bob

Well this craft can sail, in the open sea, in both directions and handle some kind of waves! <img src=

alt=

/>
For me this is a real boat.

Way cooler than the YellowPages or the Macquarie Speed Sailing machine!

The Windsurfers are cool too, but rely on a mirror face water surface for top speed.

I would like to see speed sailing take a somewhat different approach. Right now, the record is held by a windsurfer that used an asymetrical rig. The luff sleeve is much longer on the windward side than on the leeward side, there is no boom on the leeward side, and an additional strut that connects the leech and luff ends of the boom to provide additional stiffness. That all makes this windsurfer capable of sailing in only one direction. Yellow Pages and the similar boat (not sure of the name) also are asymentrical craft. To me, a true sailing record should be held by a craft that can complete the run on either tack. I believe Hydroptere can do this but I may be wrong. Thoughts?

You mean to say that the sailboard used to set the record only costed 5000 to develop from the sailing

barn doors

that were introduced 30 years ago ?

That is like saying it only costed 30 bucks to have the DVD player developped.

In response I would say that actually landyachts and iceyacht have gotten this particular game down.

Remember the Blokart. These things clocked a max speed of 95 km/h (51.3 knots) already without the need for a special ditch. Come to think of it, was digging this ditch included in the 5000 quote you gave ?

And there isn't greater accessibility then driving a 2100 Euro Blokart on a nearby carpark. You don't even have the car top it as it folds into a small package that fits inside your boot.

Landyachting ultimate record is 188 km/h I believe (101.6 knots)

Wouter

Questions:
What was the extent of the modifications? In other words, is Hydroptere still an Open 60, capable of extended offshore sailing in normal conditions?
It would be relatively simple to disassemble the windward vaka/ama to reduce weight and drag. Will they do that to try the absolute record?

VIVE LA FRANCE!

(btw, vaka=main hull, ama=outboard hull, aka=xbeams)

They state that the speed was based on

their calculation

.
Of course other speed machines have recorded higher peaks and runs than the records now standing. The real test is at a controled site.

Still, doing 45 knots on anything is a gas!

Did you notice the angles that thing is sailing sheeted hard? Geesh, it's on a deep deep reach!

On water is the game.
sailboard can bring the sail down over them so it will lift the boat.
Does the key to more speed lay in that place?

The Wright Brothers figured it out over 100 years ago, if you want to go fast, get out of the water!

So at what point is a

Flying Boat

not a boat? Maybe they should design the aka's (the beams) more like large wings, with the foils at the ends, and generate some lift like an airplane. If they design them right, 49 knots is plenty of wind to generate a useable amount of lift.

And on the whole speed sailing records thing, I think they need to continue to do the runs in the Ditch to develop what is fast. Then they need to figure out how to apply it to a real boat that will operate in the real ocean. That Tri is out in the real ocean, or just slightly above it! Too bad there wasn't a fast windsurfer next to him for comparison!

There wouldn't be one.

Jake got this absolutely right !

The most stunning thing about Hydroptere is that this boat is raking up the speeds in open water.

All the windsurfer and even Innovation explorer records are done in perfectly flat water only a few meters aways from a dry sandbar, the coast or in a specially dug ditch.

Hydroptere does it amids a rought seastate.

As such Hydroptere is something really really special. Wouldn't it be fun if they crossed the 50 knots barrier first and none of the special craft in very special ditches (c.q. locations)

Hell Hydroptere could theoretically cross the atlantic this way !

And that is not me just saying that, here , they announce the plan to build a version that will sail around the world.

Wouter

All the windsurfer and even Innovation explorer records are done in perfectly flat water only a few meters aways from a dry sandbar, the coast or in a specially dug ditch.

that may be true of the new records...but windsurfers hit 40+ mph regularly in rough water...it might not be 45 knotts ...but still 40 mph in a wicked 3-4' chop on top of a good ground swell is still moving really fast on the water.

I thought you guys would be much more tuned into windsurfing in europe than we are here in the US...but either you live where the windsurfing sailing talent is on the less extreme side of things or maybe it just never interested you to the point of really paying a lot of attention to it. Usually when the conditions are really good for high performance windsurfing no ones on the beach because they don't like getting sand blasted...Tell Dunkerbeck you can't go fast on rough water...

Regards,
Bob

All the windsurfer and even Innovation explorer records are done in perfectly flat water only a few meters aways from a dry sandbar, the coast or in a specially dug ditch.

Right, the trouble only is proving it.

Over the period, both the wind surfer and kite boarder lost a bed against an olympic tornado held at the German boatshow.

At the the deli petit navire we have more then enough photo evidence that windsurfer and kite boarders are not that fast after all. Look at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWINygISxDE&mode=related&search=

(and you really should look at this video)

For two seasons now I know personally that kite boards can't perform in the conditions I'm out with my cat (up to 25 knots) despite using the biggest kite sizes. And I'm no where near 40 mph.

Pretty much to only reall impressive speed data we have of both kite and windsurfer comes from the French Ditch, walvisbaai and several stretches along a dyke or the Danish sandbars where the water is only 3 feet and perfectly flat.

I guess alot of people just assume that they reach these same speeds when they are going 50 % airtime over the large swell at their local pond, but they are mostly not.

None of the above is the case.

But it is too much to detail at this time.

Usually when the conditions are really good for high performance windsurfing

Exactly my point !

These things need very special conditions to perform up to the 40+ knots range.

And please lets not trouble the water by coming back with 40 MPH claims. We are talking knots here and not miles per hour or 40 km per hour. It is 40+ knots or you are simply not in the game.

Hydroptere (in the video on its webpage) is sailing in something more then

wicked 3-5 chop

and it is also a little faster then 40 mph (= 35.6 knots).

Sorry mate, windsurfers are fast craft but hydroptere does something really exceptional here.

Wouter

Sorry mate, windsurfers are fast craft but hydroptere does something really exceptional here.

I agree Wouter...it is exceptional...but the chance of my experiencing it personally is remote, while windsurfing is accessible to anyone who has a few thousand dollars, is in good physical condition and is committed to gaining the expertise.

I guarantee you that in the extreme conditions that we look forward to sailing in, there is no catamarans to be found…when you can bairly carry a 3.0 meter sail down to the beach … a catamaran is not even going to be able to sit upright on the beach, let alone sailing out on the water.

Regards,
Bob

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Yeah, being able to sail in extreme conditions is great but those are rare. Look at average conditions.... winds of 7-15. Not many windsurfers out in that because it isn't fun but cats are everywhere.

In reality you can sail a beach cat up to winds of 35mph without having to do anything special. I don't even have to change sails between winds of 10 and 35 when the windsurfers will have gone through 2.

Also what can you do on a wind surfing board, jump a few times, then get tired and go in. On a cat you can pack a lunch,take out the g/f, fly a hull all the way to the beach have a nice meal and then go blast around some more. Can you take anyone out with you on the board?

I am not saying that boards are not badass and I know that they could smoke me speed whys....but they can't do alot of stuff that cats can.

Awee Geeze...

Actually, the overwhelming majority of windsurfers sail in winds between 10 and 25mph, not the nukin' 40+ that many people think. Also, modern windsurfing gear can fully plane in 10-12knots of wind and specialized

Formula

race gear in 8 or less. In these windspeeds, windsurfers can sail in excess of 2 times the actual windspeed.

Sailing a cat in 35kts without doing anything special? On your side maybe. Statements like that bring back thoughts of the Hobie Tiger worlds a few years back in Santa Barbra. How much racing was done on those windy days and how many boats left the beach? Granted, high performance windsurfing does require more equipment as well as the ability to select the right equipment than simply rigging a cat, but modern gear has a lot more range than the old stuff and goes together more easily. I could have two, probably three rigs put together in the time it takes to get a cat together and in the water.

Regarding jumping...well if you've never done it, you will never know...ha ha, more waves for me! The thing about windsurfing is that there is always something else to learn. On a cat, once you learn how to tack, gybe, trapeze, and go reasonably fast, you've basically done it. Windsurfing is basically unbounded (I suggest doing a search on Youtube, there is some amazing sh!t out there).

Not knockin' cats, I've sailed them my whole life and still enjoy racing them. Just don't bust on windsurfing if you haven't tried it <img src=

alt=

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sm

I have looked at some of that stuff on youtube. It is crazy, I value my body to much for that. Cats can be tough in that much wind, the problem you run into is most guys sail the most expensive thing out there. Take an old Hobie 16 and blast around in 35mph winds. That is a blast and if something breaks you can replace it cheap!

I didn't mean to knock windsurfing there are some crazy skills involved, but there are in cat sailing also. I think you over generalized it saying that once you learn you are done.All around I would rather be on a cat but windsurfing looks like it could be one of those fun things to try. A friend of mine owns two windsurfing rigs and he wants me to try it next summer, I am going to so we will see.

gree,

your boat doesnt want you to try windsurfing. it is like crack i tell you. i started with my hobie and sailed most of the time single handed. rigging just takes so long on the boat. i can be on the water in 10min with my windsurf stuff which makes it justifiable to hit the lake after work.

when the wind is 10-15mph then its just cruising on the windsurfer....even with a 10m sail but it is still fun. when the wind hits 18+, and you get on plane, its a different ball game. the real addicting quality of a windsurfer is the feel/response that you get on a board. im glad i didnt start windsurfing as a kid because i would of never gotten a job.

i just like anything with sails. the windsurfer just gives me more time on the water.

windsurfers dont point as well as the boats but they can generate some serious speed. windsurfing does have a longer learning curve, but man it was worth it.

Speed isn't what I am really looking for. I like being about to rest on what I am sailing and being able to take a girl out. I will try windsurfing but in the conditions around here I can be on the water alot more with a boat. 12 mph wind is fun and will lift a hull!!

that why you should have both--more toys = more fun