New Land Speed Record (Wind Powered)

The Kiwi's have broken a land speed record for wind driven craft. The team is made up of current/former NZ America's Cup campaigners.

222.4 KPH (120.1 Knots) set in only 22 knots of wind.

That is pretty danged amazing right there!

Would be interesting to know if ice boats have been developed to this extent. In principle they should be less encumbered by rolling resistance of wheels on ground than this beast.

grandpaul said:

That is pretty danged amazing right there!

Click to expand...

I like how they used an Aussie as pilot (Glenn Ashby). I have actually met him a decade ago at an Olympic class sailing event when he was a top level Tornado catamaran sailor.

From wiki:

“While claimed speeds for such craft have been as high as 140 miles per hour (230 km/h) in the early 20th century,[12] other sources cast doubt on both the technology for achieving and for measuring such speeds at those times.”

A very cursory peek at the internets seems to place the confirmed speed record of ice boats in the 100-110mph range.

However, it’s surprising to learn that these speeds were reached in the 1885!