www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-05/team-new-zealand-wind-powered-world-speed-record-attempt/101504526?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

222kmh in 22 knots

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/130732198/team-nz-smash-world-land-speed-record?cid=app-android

119kts! ( If I used the calculator right..)

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sboardcrazy said..
119kts! ( If I used the calculator right..)

I think I hit that speed mid catapult the other day

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sboardcrazy said..
119kts! ( If I used the calculator right..)

119.87041kts to be precise.
Bloody fast anyway!

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Imax1 said..

sboardcrazy said..
119kts! ( If I used the calculator right..)

I think I hit that speed mid catapult the other day

I think they only count horizontal velocity.

(I still maintain that the time one of my footstrap screws stripped out and I went over, I could see the curvature of the earth. Don't tell me it isn't possible. I was there. )

Stunning achievement by Team NZ. They say they still have some room to go faster, too.
emirates-team-new-zealand.americascup.com/en/landspeed-project.html

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Paducah said..

Imax1 said..

sboardcrazy said..
119kts! ( If I used the calculator right..)

I think I hit that speed mid catapult the other day

I think they only count horizontal velocity.

(I still maintain that the time one of my footstrap screws stripped out and I went over, I could see the curvature of the earth. Don't tell me it isn't possible. I was there. )

Stunning achievement by Team NZ. They say they still have some room to go faster, too.
emirates-team-new-zealand.americascup.com/en/landspeed-project.html

Yep, they can go faster...needs more downhaul, or whatever the equivalent term is in solid wing foils!!!

Imagine if things went wrong at that speed!

About 5.5x the wind speed. That's insane!

I wonder if they could go faster on ice ?
Flatter surface, better sideways grip and less friction.

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Imax1 said..
I wonder if they could go faster on ice ?
Flatter surface, better sideways grip and less friction.

Well, that sent me down a rabbit hole. Allegedly, the mark was set 90 years ago by this boat, Debutante, at about 231 km/h but given the timing methods and technology of the time, there's a lot of doubt. But there still are supporters, too. I have no stake in this but kind of surprised I can't (quickly) find anyone posting gps tracks of their iceboat.

9d271178-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/yoavraz2/debutanteIII.jpg
(google won't let display here so copy and paste if you want to see a b&w low rez photo of a 90 yr old iceboat)

"Letters from Readers:

I fully acknowledge Richard Jenkins land speed record at Lake Ivanpah of 109+ knots, but question 'the fastest wind powered man on earth' as ice boats have gone much faster with the E-Skeeter during fleet racing and not even going for a record.

These iceboats have been radar measured and course race clocked several times at 120mph/190kph. These boats commonly race at 80mph/130kph to 100mph/160kph in 18-20knot breezes and over 25knots will reach and probabaly more, 190kph so why are the ice boat speeds always ignored and not recognized?

If you doubt me then please contact the great Buddy Melges, gold and bronze medalist, and Americas Cup winner at Zenda, Wisconsin next to Lake Geneva where these speeds in ice boat racing are commonly achieved.

Regards,
Peter Harken

Editor's Comment: Don't doubt you. Good point!

Sender: Ken Stafford Stafford
>
> Message: As Peter Harken already mentioned, today's ice boats commonly exceed this speed. But according to 'Boating Facts and Feats' (by Peter Johnson published 1976), the fastest official ice boat speed was recorded on Lake Winnebags, Wisconsin in 1938 by sailor John D. Buckstaff. It was a stellar 143 mph! "

source: www.sailworldcruising.com/n/10957-knots-makes-Richard-the-fastest-sailor-on-earth/-55245

Here's an interesting read, too: www.carbondragon.us/iceboat/speed_record.htm

The mind boggles .
Imagine 40 kts wind , downwind at 10 deg on ice .
It seems the faster you go on a windsurfer , it needs closer kts of wind to kts of speed .
I can easily do 25 kts in a solid 15 kts of wind and I'm a spaz. I barely crack 30 in nuking wind .
I see a bell curve going on here .