by WideWorld
11.05.2009
© Steb Fisher
Australia’s Macquarie Speed Sailing team have reached the record books in a futuristic sailboat that owes more to science than traditional seafaring. Powering down a 500m course at Sandy Point 'down under', their boat Macquarie Innovation hit an epic 100km/h and entered sailing history.
The boat’s incredible design is more wing than sail: an enormous solid plane that acts as an aerofoil, providing rear thrust at an incredible rate from the 7.5m high rig. It means that from a windspeed of only 17 knots, the Macquarie innovation can multiply the wind strength by nearly three times.
The pilots – it’s fairer to call them that than sailors – are confined to a pod on the right-hand outrigger, which rarely sits on the water once the boat is in motion. In fact, the pilots report the sensation of taking off and leaving the water completely. Any faster than this and they’ll probably need landing lights.
Find out more about the Macquarie Innovation: www.macquarie.com.au/speedsailing.htm
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