Please select your home edition
Edition
GOAT Marine

65 knot+ Rocket Ride Anniversary edit

by Paul Larsen, VESTAS Sailrocket 24 Nov 2013 14:18 GMT 24 November 2013

With so many people asking "what is it like" to sail this boat at this speed, we thought it was time to do a more 'pure' edit of our fastest, final incredible run. This run shows Vestas Sailrocket 2 absolutely smashing the outright world speed sailing record and easily becoming the sports first true 60 +knot boat. She averaged 65.45 knots over the 500 meter course and hit a peak speed of 68.33 knots (78+mph, 126 + kmh).

Beware, this contains the actual audio from the helmet of the Australian pilot... and there was swearing.

We had it covered from many angles and all those little cameras cost us a little bit of speed... so we might as well use all the footage that was captured. All the shots here are from the third run of the day and are edited to the actual voice recording of the pilot in real time.

The video shows the full sequence of a full run from being released from the support RIB to burning down the 500 meter course in under 15 seconds... and of course the celebration that ensued. Some of the details to look out for are when the leeward side of the boat buries underwater whilst trying to get started and when the big, low speed rudder drops down at speed on the back float (you can see it kick the boat sideways at the start of the high speed section

www.sailrocket.com

Related Articles

Weymouth Speed Week 2022
50 years on, and one of the best ever Little did Sir Tim Colman (yes, he of mustard fame) and James Gregono know when they and their peers started Weymouth Speed week in 1972 to see just how fast their boats could go over the now legendary 500m course. Posted on 27 Oct 2022
Paul Larsen on RORC Time over Distance Series
The fastest sailor on the planet having clocked 68 knots in Vestas Sailrocket 2 Larsen has always been involved in cutting edge sailing projects and in this 45-minute interview he discusses foiling technology in both the Vendée Globe and the forthcoming Match in the 46th America's Cup. Posted on 4 Mar 2021
65+ knot Rocket Ride
A look back at the incredible achievement of Vestas Sailrocket 2 With so many people asking "what is it like" to sail this boat at this speed, we thought it was time to do a more 'pure' edit of our fastest, final incredible run. Posted on 13 Apr 2020
Podcast: An extraordinary 10 years of sailing
Andy Rice, Mark Jardine and James Boyd discuss the sailing decade In the last podcast before Christmas, Andy Rice joins with fellow sailing journalist James Boyd and Mark Jardine, managing editor of Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com to look back on an extraordinary 10 years of sailing. Posted on 21 Dec 2019
The Unsung Wise Man
Reg Bratt's remarkable contribution to British dinghy sailing exposed Today, nearly half a century after he was so very much hands on in the dinghy world, Weymouth's Reginald 'Reg' Bratt has a mind as sharp as ever. We look at his remarkable engineering breakthroughs, surprising designs, and speed records. Posted on 13 Dec 2019
Swiss engineers to design the fastest sailboat
SP80 is the Swiss challenge powered by a kite wing Three young engineers from the Swiss engineering school EPFL have decided to design the fastest sailboat over a 500m track and enter sailing history. Posted on 19 Nov 2019
Fever-Tree Moment: That was Fast!
Speed king Paul Larsen enjoys a Gin & Tonic at Antigua Sailing Week Australian Paul Larsen is at Antigua Sailing Week racing on Peter Harrison's Superyacht Sojana, which is top of CSA 2 after scoring five straight bullets. Larsen is a self-confessed adrenalin junky and an awesome sailing gunslinger. Posted on 2 May 2018
Sailrocket 2 at Advanced Engineering Show
On display at the NEC in November Sailrocket 2, which smashed the world speed sailing record by the biggest margins in its history, will go on display at this year's Advanced Engineering Show in Birmingham on the 4th and 5th of November. Posted on 16 Oct 2015
Five minutes with a Speed Freak
Paul Larsen about the MOD70 Concise 10 Tony Lawson's MOD 70, Concise 10, will be screeching south next month. Skipper Ned Collier Wakefield will be on the charge for the 1500-mile delivery to Marina Lanzarote to compete in this November's RORC Transatlantic Race. Posted on 5 Oct 2015
Weymouth Speed Week 2015 at WPNSA
With Vestas Sailrocket 2 on display Weymouth Speed Week will run from 3rd to the 10th October at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. Along with a line-up of interesting entries the current 500m World Speed Record holder, Vestas Sailrocket 2, will be on display. Posted on 2 Oct 2015