Sebastien Cattelan was the first person breaking the elusive 50 knots mark - the holy gral of speedsailing.
| Wot Rocket down ! |
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| Thursday, 14 August 2008 | |
 Since Monday 11th, the futuristic speed yacht WotRocket has been in an official speed sailing record attempt period, trying to beat that legendary but also very tricky 50 knot barrier, record that has had plenty of attention from various parties this season…
After a day spent getting the set up right on Monday, this Tuesday 12th August, conditions seemed to be perfectly set for designer/pilot Sean Langman and his co-pilot Joe De Jock, with a steady 18 - 20 knots blowing across Botany Bay, not far along the coast from Sydney itself. After a few warm up runs, WotRocket finally got onto a full speed run, before both pilots lost control of the rigid sail, finding themselves unable to de-power at all. And the penalties for that were always likely to be serious, with the boat executing a splendid front roll (nose dive) that the pilots will surely remember for a long time to come !
While both the men walked away relatively unhurt, the news of the WotRocket was not so good and it will be required back in the workshops for a few weeks to repair the rigid sail’s frame, frame that clearly wasn’t made for gymnastics… The ever confident Langman assures us he’ll be back in action a few weeks for a new attempt. Which all means that while WotRocket still has it all to prove, a certain Mr Antoine Albeau can sleep easily again for a bit longer yet…
Source: WotRocket
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