Helena and Paul are friends who are pushing the sport of sailing forward. From my perspective with enormous charm and grace. I wish them the best of luck, as I watch with interest at their progress.
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New Vestas Sailrocket 2 Aims For Speed Sailing Record “Since we started pursuing the Outright World Speed Sailing Record 9 years ago, the record has been raised by exactly 9 knots. The current record holders, the kite surfers, have taken it out of the reach of all the previous contenders and it is going to take a very special boat to get it back. Vestas Sailrocket 2 is a boat that aims high. The only satisfactory outcome for us is the outright record,” Paul Larsen, pilot and project leader from the Sailrocket 2 team says. With the record raised to the current level, the ambitious team behind Sailrocket is even more eager to develop a boat to break the Outright World Speed Sailing Record. In order to do that, conventional design has been left behind and everything is pushed to the limit. “Many lessons have been learned since the first Sailrocket was launched in 2004. The first boat shows the scars of the many learning processes we have been through over the years. In the end it performed as predicted; although she briefly emerged as the fastest boat in the world, she never achieved the Outright record title. The record was like a mirage: as we got faster, so did the record,” Paul Larsen says. “We learnt a lot with the first boat. The recent performance of the kite surfers vindicated our decision to build a new boat. I’m confident that Sailrocket 2 has the potential to take the record to new levels.” Vestas Sailrocket 2 will be launched on 8 March at Venture Quays, in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Both Sailrocket boats will be shown to the public. |
