"cavelamb" wrote in message
m...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"cavelamb" wrote in message
m...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"cavelamb" wrote in message
m...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"cavelamb" wrote in message
m...
Ed Huntress wrote:
Very expensive, very special purpose-built boats have topped 40
mph. The actual record for a wind-driven machine that (nominally)
floats on water is actually a kite board/sailboard -- around 50
knots. I wouldn't call that a "sailboat."

There are some big, ocean-racing multi-mega-buck cats that may
break that record. One has gone faster than 50 knots but I don't
think the speed has been confirmed. If you have a million bux, you,
too, can have one of those things. Maybe.

Meantime, a one-off boat build by Hobie, the Longshot, may still
hold the Class A record at something like 44 knots (50 mph). That
isn't a production Hobie and it isn't a catamaran:

http://www.hobiecat.com/sailing/TriF..._longshot.html

All of those machines are in a different realm from conventional
catamarans. The world record for a Hobie 16 is 16.90 knots (19.5
mph), set in 1975. That was the B Class record at the time. More
recently, the record for that class was 37 knots, as I mentioned,
but it was nothing like a conventional catamaran. I see that the B
Class record is now 46.5 knots. The boat is seriously weird:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:YPEndeavour.jpg

Gunner needs a better radar gun. g

That's teh gun the sheriff uses for "them feriners" from outta
state...
Damn, maybe he forget to re-set the "adjustment." g

How 'bout them freaky boats, eh? Did you see the pic of the
Endeavour?

For real speed, though, you have to sail on hard water. I had the
opportunity to race DN class iceboats when I was in college. Mamma
mia, sitting in a little open shell, doing 60 mph and trying to keep
the thing from spinning out while dodging the ice-fishing holes, is
quite a thrill. With an apparent wind of around 75 mph and your toes
sticking out in the breeze at 10 below zero, they're a challenge to
your blood flow, too. g

Did you ever try one of those things?

Here in Texas? Not physically possible.
Jeez, do you never leave? g?
No. Why?

There's more to life than Texas. g

What? New Jersey?

Hmmp

If you never leave Texas, how would you know? d8-)



We did have a little wheeled sailer at the Hondo airport.
It would do well over 30 mph.
Try 90 in a Skeeter class iceboat. You won't believe it until you do
it.

No. Why????

For the same reason you fly airplanes. It's something a real sailor
shouldn't miss. You probably won't be allowed in a Skeeter, though,
unless somebody thinks you know what you're doing. Get a ride in a DN.
Fifty or 60 mph under sail is enough to get the idea.

And flights to Minneapolis are cheap in the winter. You may pay through
the nose, however, to leave.


Freezing point in Texas is anything under 60 degrees.
Who am I to argue with tradition?

You need cleaner water. The clean stuff freezes around 32.

--
Ed Huntress