The UK based Vestas Sailrocket team are to return to Walvis Bay in Namibia for one more assault on the outright speed sailing record. The 28-day record period commenced last Friday (2 October) and will be the final record attempt for this boat.

It has endured an eventful life to reach its current level of performance, and its structure bears the scars of many a hard earned lesson. It is truly a unique craft which has shown the potential of a radical concept for achieving both stability and efficiency in high speed sailing craft.

Paul Larsen commented: “Righto, here we go again. Outside it has all the makings of a good day… but it is a great day that we seek. The forecast is the same as yesterdays but we are hoping that it is a bit steadier… and up a few knots. The best place to wait is fully ‘kitted’ up over at speed-spot.”

“I’m taking no chances and have doubled the size of the launch anchor which Vestas Sailrocket strains against once the guy holding the nose into the wind let’s go as we commence a run. I’ve also taken on another guy to help with the launch. We are just as likely to damage the boat in a launch as sailing. Handling this boat can be a real ‘ball-ache’ on a windy day. Some times when she gets out of hand she can take off, dragging a pretty long anchor behind her, and head straight up the beach. When it does this it dredges the main foil through the sand. We have put a lot of effort into the finish on the main foil and I don’t want to scratch it… especially before a big run. It needs to be pretty immaculate at the speeds we are trying to achieve.”

Conditions were good for Vestas Sailrocket’s [first run]. The forecast was 17-23 knots, and it came true. Vestas Sailrocket did a steady run down the flat course. The Team was very happy with all the systems onboard. We tried to do a second run but the lows were down to 17kn and the highs were only 20’s. Now we need a bit more wind fingers crossed for the next forecast.

The team will be on full standby at Walvis Bay Yacht Club throughout the whole record period. Regular updates and live feeds will be streamed from www.vestassailrocket.com throughout the attempt.