Australia’s attempt to reclaim the 500m world speed sailing record.
Pilot Sean Langman and co-pilot Joe Dekock testing the Wot Rocket for the world speed sailing record attempt at Belmont, Lake Macquarie.
The Wot Rocket is half sailboat/sail plane; a nine meter long canoe style hull with two tiny foils, each about a sixth of the size of a Moth foil and a nine meter rigid sail, then a traverse beam out of an aerodynamic twin pod crew compartment. It is built entirely from carbon fiber and weighs approximately 400 kilos.The difference between this sailboat/sail plane and any that have come before it is that it will be attempting to break through the water speed barrier using a technology as yet untried on any sailing craft – supercavitation – to reduce the drag which is around 1,000 times greater in the water than in air.
Supercavitation will in effect mean Wot Rocket flies in a gas bubble created by the outward deflection of water by a specially shaped nose cone and the expansion of gases from its fin and foil design. By keeping water from contacting the surface of the body of Wot Rocket, this will significantly reduce drag and allow extremely high speeds.
The concept behind the Wot Rocket approach is to induce supercavitation at lower speeds where control can still be maintained and from there push through to the top speeds.Supercavitation means Wot Rocket should only require a fraction of the 45-50 knot winds that Albeau needed to go 0.39 knots better than the previous record. A moderate 18-20 knots should do the trick believes Langman.
Jun 08
Wot Rocket
Belmont, New South Wales, Australia 33º02’09″S 151º39’12″E
Feb 08
Hobart
Tasmania, Australia 42º52’85″S 147º19’73″E
Enfin me voila de retour a Sydney, oh que c’est bon, j’aime tellement cette ville surtout en ces derniers jours d’été.
Donc une bonne chose de faite dans ma vie, le tour de la Tasmanie, après la plus longue Sydney Hobart jamais effectué, il est vrai je n’étais pas vraiment dans la course…
A la suite de ces dix jours d’escale a Hobart dans ce petit port de pêche du bout du monde entre neige et soleil, Les gens ici disent, si tu n’aimes pas le temps a Hobart attends cinq minutes… Nous sommes repartis pour la fin de notre tour Tasmanien, passage Sud Est, la cote Est et enfin le reste de la partie Nord, navigation entre contraste météo et un formidable mélange géographique, entre aridité, plage immaculée et brutalité rocheuse la tournée se déroule sans aucun problème, puis enfin destination plein Nord, re-passage du Detroit de Bass, adieu les quarantièmes rugissants et bonjour températures clémentes ainsi que sont flot de lumières estivales, Après une bonne provision d’air pur et d’embruns et les vertus stimulantes des épreuves océanes maintenant La croisière se repose.
Aaaaah!! Sydney.
Feb 08
Port Davey
Tasmania, Australia 43º19’20″S 145º56’99″E
Sans transition après notre sortie des portes de l’enfer , nous voila voguant de nouveau le long de la cote ouest Tasmanienne faisant un cap au sud protégé par le vide alentour mais certainement pas par les éléments, mais bon cormorans et phoques sont la pour nous montrer la bonne direction qui est celle de Port Davey, Fjord magnifique contrastant des paysages Méditerranéen avec une désolation complétement Australe, qu’il est bon de se perdre
dans un de ces endroits magiques et isolés et il serait dommage de se précipiter sur une terre que l’eau, le vent, le temps ont façonné pendant des millions d’années, donc farniente totale, oui, oui…même le soleil est de la partie par une éclatante journée a 37 degrés j’ose même une baignade, ou! Ouhlala! quel est bonne, ma première baignade et certainement ma dernière par 42 dégrées Sud même Cook n’y a pas trempe sont doigt de pied, ne serait ce que pour cela l’Australie devrait être la Francolie.
Après de bonnes journées d’explorations maritimes et terrestres nous voila déjà en attente de notre prochain passage sur les traces du Capitaine Huon de Kermadec commandant du navire d’exploration Esperance dans le Sud Ouest de notre très chère Tasmanie.
Feb 08
Strahan
Tasmania, Australia - 42º09'52"S 149º19'25"E
Après notre départ d’Eden et une magnifique passe sous le phare du Green Cape (le Cap Vert Australien?), nous avons effectué une traversée cette fois ci sans encombres du fameux Detroit de Bass, après des années de traversées Nord Sud ou bien Sud Nord, cette fois ci Est Ouest fut l’option, nous entrainant dans les quarantièmes Sud sans rugissement pour nous retrouver sur la fameuse cote Ouest Tasmanienne dans un parfait swell venant du grand Sud de l’Océan Indien, direction Hells Gate.
Dans une atmosphère de petit matin bien morose nous voila au porte de l’Enfer, point de passage obligatoire pour faire notre déambulation dans Macquarie Harbour et sa capitale très touristique Strahan (prononcez Straun) car même en enfer il y a des touristes.
Voila après deux jours au mouillage dans la très calme rivière Gordon au Sud de la baie, nous voila déjà bien impatient pour notre Prochaine destination Port Davey dans le Sud Ouest de l’ile, escale bien plus sauvage encore puisque aucun chemin terrestre n’arrive a cet endroit.
Feb 08
Eden
New South Wales, Australia - 37º03'49"S 149º54'11"E
Donc juste une petite mise a jour de mon début de parcours autour de la Tasmanie après une descente digne d’une belle bleue sous spinnaker rouge et du thon blanc excellent nous voila donc au mouillage a Éden dans le sud du New South Wales et oui pas encore en Tasmanie, le mauvais temps ne nous a pas permit de passer le fameux Detroit de Bass, mais dans les prédictions météo et autres viscères de crustacés géant il serait possible de faire le passage Dimanche, jour du seigneur.
Éden = paradis? Non pas vraiment, d’un cote c’est un petit port de pêche avec comme d’hab plus de pubs que de pécheurs et de l’autre cote de la baie une fabrique de copeaux de bois le tout pour nos petits amis Japonais, qu’ils nous ramèneront sous forme d’emballage contenant des téléviseurs Sony, vive le troc a l’Australienne…
Donc a la vue des activités je passe le plus clair de mon temps a organiser mes images, lire et suivre les activités portuaires.
Dec 07
Rosebud
Tasman Sea, New South Wales, Australia 33º50’83″S 151º21’97″E
Onboard Roger Sturgeon’s Farr design Transpac 65 Rosebud during a training session in Sydney, preparing for the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2007. The American yacht, won the IRC handicap race and, thus, the Tattersalls Cup as the overall winner of the 2007 race. Roger Sturgeon had to leave before today’s formal prize giving at the yacht club. But at yesterday’s dockside ceremony where the divisional winners were formally announced, Sturgeon was awarded a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece, the keepsake to the Tattersall’s Cup perpetual trophy for the overall handicap win and promptly handed it to his bowman, Justin Clougher. Hobart-born Clougher – known as “Juggy” in the sailing community — now based in Newport, Rhode Island, has built an international reputation sailing on around-the-world races and in the America’s Cup. But he remains very much a Tasmanian boy. Clougher has sailed in eight previous Sydney Hobart races with the best result aboard Larry Ellison’s Sayonara for her line honours win in 1998.Local family members and his American wife Kerry, children Zoe and Graeme, were in the crowd of several hundred at Constitution Dock, when Sturgeon passed on the watch to a completely surprised Juggy, with the acknowledgement that he had been the most valuable crewman on his STP65′s Australian campaign. Juggy’s role as a wind spotter, high up the mast — as the boat negotiated the calm that slowed her for two hours just outside the mouth of the Derwent River — contributed to her win. “This is a huge shock to me,” said Juggy. “I love sailing, I love Hobart and being able to race home is fantastic, I just love it. And to bring the boat home in a strong position is just such a good feeling. I was so excited.”“I have no idea what the watch is worth, but to me you couldn’t put a price on it and I think every other sailor in this whole fleet would be the same. You can take the watch off the front but you leave me that back plate with the words on it (2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race).”From weather reports Rosebud knew there was a northwesterly breeze blowing in Hobart. “We just had to hope it would fill in down the river. We wanted to keep the boat moving towards the Iron Pot in any way, shape or form so we could get into that new breeze. We got it…just.”The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race marked the end of Rosebud’s Australian campaign’s unbeaten record. Earlier in December, Rosebud won the IRC handicap division of the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour and IRC Division 1 in the Rolex Trophy Rating Series.
Words: KPMS
Oct 07
Lord Howe Island
Tasman Sea, Australia 31º31’64″S 159º03’58″E
PARADISE #3
Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, 600 kilometres (370 mi) directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about 900 kilometres (560 mi) from Norfolk Island. The island is about 10 km long and between 2.0 km and 0.3 km wide with an area of 14.55 km2, “of which only 398 hectares is in the lowland settled area”. The first reported sighting of Lord Howe Island was on 17 February 1788 when Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply was on its way from Botany Bay to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island. On the return journey Ball sent a party ashore on Lord Howe Island to claim it as a British possession. It subsequently became a provisioning port for the whaling industry, and was permanently settled in June 1834. When whaling declined, the worldwide export of the endemic kentia palms began in the 1880s, which remains a key component of the Island’s economy. The other continuing industry, tourism, began after World War II.The Lord Howe Island Group is recorded by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of global natural significance. Most of the island is virtually untouched forest with many of the plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Other natural attractions include the diversity of its landscapes, the variety of upper mantle and oceanic basalts, the world’s southernmost barrier coral reef, nesting seabirds, and its rich historical and cultural heritage. The Lord Howe Island Act of 1981 established a “Permanent Park Preserve” (covering approximately 70 per cent of the island). The surrounding waters are a protected region designated the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.
Aug 07
Yendys
Hamilton Island, Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia 20º19’73″S 149º03’38″E
Onboard Yendys a Reichel/Pugh 55 during the Withehaven Beach race, winner of the IRC Racing division at the 2007 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Geoff Ross launched his new Reichel/Pugh 55 late 2006. It was the first boat out of McConaghy International’s new boatyard in China. Yendys (Sydney spelt backwards) has been an icon of the Australian sailing scene for many year.
Yendys carries a sail number of 1836 – the year Geoff’s ancestors first arrived in Hobart via convict transportation.
Jun 07
Sodeb’O
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia 32º55’26″S 151º45’20″E
The launch of Thomas Coville’s 105 feet maxi-trimaran Sodeb’O took place in a sunny Newcastle. Designed by Nigel Irens and Benoît Cabaret, the maxi-Sodeb’O been built and launched in Australia in June 2007, this 32 m long three hulled machine (105 feet) and 16.55 m wide (55 feet) craft is equipped with a 35 m mast and can carry up to 650 square metres of sail area.Coville said “It’s an incredible boat. The lines are right, elegant, pure; it’s very beautiful. I’m happy; it’s been a wonderful day.”
