44.19 kn

We don't expect to be sailing for the next few days as it seems we are to endure a light wind patch.

We will use the time to remove the wing and service all the parts. Yestereday we checked the calibration of some of the key components of the PI RESEARCH logging system to make sure the information we were getting was spot-on... It was.

Hi all, just got in and the team are tearing through the data, photos, footage... and snacks.

Looks like we did somewhere around a 41.2 knot average (all subject to WSSRC ratification) over the mile which should be enough to move us up to second in the mile ranking overall and take the course record off Dunkerbeck along with a few other smaller titles (Australian mile, 'B' class mile). Hydroptere is still king in this department  for the time being... but we will be back. We did a 44.02 knot 500 meter run and a peak around 46.

The forecast is predicting winds from 19-25 knots and it has been pretty spot on for the past few days. The tides are perfect and VESTAS SAILROCKET sits patiently waiting outside. Big things can happen on days that start like this.

Walvis bay delivered the goods today with perfect conditions that would have enabled us to push to the limits... but we aren't ready for that just yet.

We will approach that stage with caution. Seeing as we have just fitted the new curved foil we need to make sure that the complex steering/control system is 'dialled in' to it. Remember that at high speed we are trying to operate the rudder within fractions of a degree of movement. To do this, we need to have the rudder aligned practically perfectly with the loaded angle of the main foil. It is after all the main foil which determines the centre line of the boat and not the boat itself. As mentioned in an earlier blog, we use an array of Lasers, jigs and digital equipment to do this. It took two days... but the effort seems to have paid off.

Greetings everyone as all the pieces begin to drop into place for no doubt another action packed VESTAS SAILROCKET speed session.

Tomorrow will mark the beginning of our second WSSRC ratified assault on the World Outright Speed Sailing Record. The rest of the team are currently on their way across the 400 odd kilometers of desert from the airport in Windhoek to the operations base here on the coast in Walvis Bay... along with Mike Ellison from the WSSRC.