Please select your home edition
Edition
Stoneways Marine 2021 - LEADERBOARD

The other types of sailing

by Mark Jardine 12 Dec 2022 19:00 GMT
Emirates Team New Zealand's wind powered land speed world record attempt at South Australia's Lake Gairdner - December 11, 2022 © Emirates Team New Zealand/James Somerset

Look on Wikipedia and the opening paragraph for Sailing's entry is, "Sailing employs the wind - acting on sails, wingsails or kites - to propel a craft on the surface of the water (sailing ship, sailboat, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ice (iceboat) or on land (land yacht) over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation."

Sailing isn't defined by the boat or craft, but by the physics of deriving power from the wind, and as this has become more and more efficient, it has been possible to sail faster and faster.

While Emirates Team New Zealand's main focus is on defending the America's Cup, they have a little side-project going to break the land speed record. When it's not been raining, Glenn Ashby has piloted 'Horonuku' on South Australia's Lake Gairdner, a large endorheic salt lake, and on Sunday he achieved the goal, recording 222.4 kilometres per hour (that's 138.2mph or 120 knots) in just 22 knots of wind.

This is a marked improvement over the 202.9km/h recorded by Richard Jenkins on 26th March 2009 in Ecotricity Greenbird on Lake Ivanpah, California, USA.

Some may see this as a distraction from the America's Cup but Emirates Team New Zealand Principal, Matteo de Nora, sees things differently: "The land speed project has been a new opportunity to push the boundaries in aerodynamics, structural forces, construction methods and materials fields. What is often underestimated is that the technologies we explore in challenges like this - or in an America's Cup campaign - are ultimately the foundation of tomorrow's technology. Being ahead of the times in technology is what fascinates us about all the challenges faced by the team so far."

The team aren't done yet, and aim to push the record even further, most likely in early 2023. Maybe they're trying to target the record claimed by an ice yacht of 143mph on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin, way back in 1938, but there are some doubts about that speed and how it was recorded.

Many moons ago, in Southampton, a group of friends and I invented a radio-controlled land yacht class, which we eventually turned into a one-design called the 1DL. We had some great fun racing them in the late 90s and early 2000s in car parks, using traffic cones as marks, and even revived them recently for an event. The retail boom signalled the end of regular racing, as the car parks started to get filled with cars, but maybe we can get them back out in the downturn and as shopping continues to move online.

Back on to the water, the Bembridge Illusions held their 40th Anniversary Regatta over the weekend. For those who don't know the class, it's a sit-in 12ft keelboat designed by Olympic bronze medallist Jo Richards. It's a bit like a 2.4m, as used in the Paralympics until 2016, but also has a spinnaker.

It was a bitterly cold weekend in the UK, but 23 hardy sailors still went out to enjoy the racing, which continues throughout the winter on the Isle of Wight. Being so close to the water there really is no place to hide when the bow hits a wave!

All this goes to show, once again, how diverse sailing can be. Fast, slow, ancient or modern, on land, on ice, on sea, or above the sea, you can be powered by the wind in many ways.

With foiling boats, the boundaries are blurred between surface-borne craft and flight, leading to the question, 'is gliding sailing?' After all, another word for a glider is a sailplane, they use naturally occurring currents of rising air, and they share many similarities with modern sailcraft in both wing and foil shape.

In the same way, kitefoilers are also similar to paragliders and, as you can see below, they're certainly not afraid of getting some airtime. Maybe sailing is a bigger pastime than we thought?

At the end of the day definitions are just what is meant by a word. As long as we're out enjoying the wind and the world around us, who really cares what the actual definition of sailing is? The great thing is that there are so many ways we can enjoy it.

Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor

Related Articles

The power of tech
What is the cost of safety? How do you measure it? More importantly, how do you appreciate it? What is the cost of safety? How do you measure it? More importantly, how do you appreciate it? Posted on 2 Jul
An evening with the Scaramouche Sailing Trust
Sailing hasn't always been a sport for inner-city state schools like the Greig City Academy Sailing hasn't always been a sport for inner-city state schools like the Greig City Academy (GCA). But they've shown it can be accessible to everyone, with amazing results. Posted on 2 Jul
Jazz Turner completes Project FEAR
Drama right to the end in her non-stop, solo, unassisted navigation of the British Isles Jazz Turner has completed Project FEAR, her non-stop, solo, unassisted navigation of the British Isles in her Albin 27 yacht. A flotilla of supporters met her in Seaford Bay, which grew and grew the closer they came to Brighton Marina. Posted on 1 Jul
Project FEAR is in the final few days
Charity circumnavigation almost over, in record time, with a record total raised Jazz Turner is expected to reach home (Brighton Marina) on Monday 30th June or Tuesday 1st July. She has sailed round the British Isles - all round Ireland and the Shetland Islands - without any assistance in 27 days so far. Posted on 28 Jun
Funding for clubs transforms sailing opportunities
During the latest RYA Participation Webinar we heard from UK clubs about their experiences During the latest RYA Participation Webinar we heard from a range of UK clubs, walking through their case studies, and then heard from experts in finance who talked us through the opportunities and pitfalls of acquiring funds. Posted on 26 Jun
A brief history of marine instrument networks
Hugh Agnew has been involved since the outset, and continues to develop at the cutting edge One man who has been involved since the outset, and continues to develop at the cutting edge, is Hugh Agnew, the Cambridge-educated mathematician who is one of the founders of A+T Instruments in Lymington, so I spoke to him to find out more... Posted on 25 Jun
Project FEAR turns southwards
Charity circumnavigation progress report from the Shetland Islands Last month I didn't even know that Muckle Flugga existed. Yet today, the very name of the island brought tears of emotion to my eyes, as I heard Jazz Turner scream it out in victory, in a video she took when passing the lighthouse. Posted on 22 Jun
The Big Bash
Every summer the tournament rolls into town. A short format of the game. Fun and excitement abound. Every summer the tournament rolls into town. Local and international players. A short format of the game, run over a relatively compact six-week season. Posted on 15 Jun
The oldest video footage of Kiel Week
A look back into our video archive at the Kieler Woche of the 60s and early 70s In our series of articles looking back in time through our video archive, we visit Germany. Kiel Week is been a crucial event on the world circuit, and here we look back at the Kieler Woche of the 60s and early 70s. Posted on 15 Jun
Jazz Turner's fundraising target is smashed
Already £30k raised for Sailability, so it's time to up the ante Jazz Turner has now passed the northern-most tip of Ireland and is on her way to the Shetland Islands, and at the same time her fundraising total of £30,000 has been smashed! Posted on 15 Jun