SAILROCKET
Words by Paul Larsen
 ‘HITS AND MISSES’-  
VESTAS SAILROCKET Round 5
Paul Larsen and Helena
arly in February we went down to Walvis
Darvelid have been the E
Bay in Namibia with a view to making an
all out final attempt on the outright world
driving force behind speed sailing record. It was to be our fifth
the Vestas SailRocket
time down there with VESTAS SAILROCKET (VSR)
and given the success we had enjoyed on our last
campaign for the last
attempt, we were confident that we could get the
eight years. They built
extra 3.5 knots required to set the outright record.
the boat, have rebuilt its
We took down a full team of skilled people along with a
components many times and have refined new curved main foil which, amongst other modifications,
Malcolm Barnsley’s design, through trial,
was intended to make VSR safer at top end speeds by
helping prevent another ‘flip-a-roony’. The idea was that as
error and increasing understanding of
the nose lifted, the lower section of the foil would take the
the SailRocket design and performance.
load and due to the curvature, this would have a greater
They have both sacrificed much to get the
down component which would help in pulling the nose
down.
design to the stage where it is a record
breaker. They set off in February for what
Helena and I arrived before the rest of the team and
proceeded to set up the operations base at the Walvis Bay
they hoped would finally be the world
Yacht Club. It’s always nice to leave an English winter for
record they came so close to breaking last
Africa. We had arranged a budget which would allow for
November. Paul tells the tale of their fifth
two 28 day, WSSRC ratified record periods. We hoped
to get the job done in one but allowed for two just in
visit to speed spot case. The cost of these is pretty high by our usually frugal
Vestas SailRocket at high speed
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  JUNE 2009 : MULTIHULL REVIEW  35
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