VESTAS write-up on record run last fall.

The wing went up cleanly and all the little rigging extras were removed. We had a clean ship. Everything was good. I had removed all the comms. to Alex i.e. ripped them off my helmet and thrown them in the piss after getting lost in the French language menu whilst trying to connect! Hand signals work. The release from the RIB went pretty well and I don't remember too many issues with getting over the initial 'hump'.

The run was pretty good. It was definitely fast although it is amazing how quickly you become accustomed to the speed. The leeward pod was flying high and I couldn't get it down as the adjustment was at its limits. It was a good run... but not a great run. When the RIB pulled alongside and escorted me into the beach I quickly lifted the rear hatch and checked the numbers... 63.17 peak and 58. 4 something average. No good. I tried to radio the group of people making the long walk down and tell them not to bother as we were going to turn around and make another run ASAP. The radios weren't working for some reason. More electronics had bitten the dust. Only the ICOM M-71 radios seem to handle it out there (no we aren't sponsored... that's how it is). Ben came down to film and I was pretty sharp with them for not monitoring the radio. 'Breathe it out and turn it off' Lars... calm down, make everyone feel cool and move on. This was not the run we wanted... but it did serve to remove any nerves we might have had. VSR2 had sailed beautifully and was handling the day easily. I was confident I could sail her full noise. We were into the day now and focused on simply getting it right. We returned to the top of the course and got set up for Run 2. This one did not start so well. It was messy. The leeward float sunk and the wing extension dug into a wave. I need to fully stall the craft in order to get it to bear away from the wind. I oversheet the wing to windward to force this. Sort of like backwinding a head sail or pulling the mainsheet traveller fully to windward. In this full stalled state the boat rolls hard to leeward like a conventional craft. In strong conditions and the larger waves that accompany them... this becomes a problem. I managed to pop the leeward float up by sheeting the wing out and getting the flow attached, the trouble with this is that it rounds the boat up towards the wind as the drive vector point way aft of the main foil. I had full left lock dialled on with the small rudder in order to stop us going head to wind. This is one of VSR2's weak points at low speed. She continued to slowly turn into the wind and I sheeted the wing back in to try and prevent it. The boat accelerated onto the plane in this state. She continued to pick up speed heading at a tight angle towards the beach. The rudder was on full lock for a bear away which meant it was fully stalled and hence fully side ventilated. I sheeted on harder to help it come away but it wasn't happening fast enough. The beach was close and the only thing to do was to ease the wing a little and dial the rudder quickly straight to get flow attached. This had the initial effect of turning us back in towards the beach. we were probably doing around 30-35 knots. The flow attached but we were getting into shallow water. I was strangely calm about it. I sheeted in again and turned hard away down the beach. The turn was too quick and the apparent wind struggled to come around with me i.e. I did not really accelerate into the turn down wind. The wing stalled. I checked the swirling leeward tell-tales. VSR2 began to de-accelerate so I eased the wing again to attach flow. I also turned her a little more in towards the beach. She slowly got hooked in and then BAM... she was off again.

She accelerated straight up to over 61 knots but I knew it was a dud run. Only 54. something average. Everyone commented about how close in I had come at the start. On reflection it was a bit marginal but on the other hand also a sign that I was comfortable with handling the boat in tight situations.
Now I was bloody minded and set to take from this day what we had come for.

We went back up for Run 3. Ben and Alex were their usual fast and efficient selves. The three of us can basically rig and run this boat. Wally was holding the bow and ready to be an extra set of hands if we needed them.
The day felt stronger. I called Helena on the now returned comms and got another wind check. She assured me that the peak gust was still only 31 knots but that the wind was now pegged pretty solid in the middle high 20's. She called out a long string of numbers off the TACKTICK weather station, 27, 28, 28, 28 , 29, 29 , 29, 28, 28, 27, 28 etc. This was it. The course looked great and things were perfect. I didn't want to have to do another run.
The release from the RIB was the worst yet. VSR2 stuffed the leeward wing in hard. The whole thing was out of sight underwater. The leeward pod was well under and even the beam end was in the water. I waited for something to break.

There is not much I can do here but lightly ease the wing, turn the small rudder hard to windward and wait for the boat to lazily swing into the wind. The boys in the RIB were right beside me also watching this unfold. Juergen Geiger was right behind me waiting to follow me down the course on his kite board. Juergen who gave me a free room in his B+B and made it easy for me to come down to Walvis when we were broke and desperate to find a home for the project. Perfect that he was here now.

VSR2 slowly swung into the wind whilst I muttered under my breath. The minute the wind attaches to the inclined rig she starts generating lift. The core stability concept kicks in and the leeward pod rips up nice and high on the water. I had heard a 'pop' out there and figured that something was broken and the run was going to have to be abandoned. When the wing attached we accelerated pretty cleanly. I checked and double checked for damage, I expected things to be hanging in the water. They weren't. Tough boat. I had severed the outboard flap control line before this run in order to back it off as much as I could. This was an effort to get the leeward side of the boat down onto the water to reduce the heeling and increase the thrust. Sort of the reverse of flying a catamaran hull too high. The flap was just bouncing around as the pod jumped off the chop. We were actually pretty well placed course-wise and the rudder had attached flow. I sheeted in hard. Back into it then. The rear skeg was kicked up hard. It locks into a wedge but is not cleated. I turned onto the course in good shape.

We were using all the course this time. We hit it hard and the acceleration was rapid. We went straight into the 60's. The pod was instantly high and I sheeted in as hard as I could to try and get it down. I was now adding a pre-fix to "fast". It was now "This is f*****g fast". That word is there for moments like this. I believe it ceases to be swearing.

VESTAS Sailrocket 2 was alive and baring her base ventilated claws. We were in close and conditions were perfect. After 11 years, all the plates were spinning. The boat gave a hard kick in towards the beach that I had to steer into. I later found out that the rear skeg had dropped down and was dragging behind giving a fixed steering input. the boat settled into a new balance. I thought it was something else related to the messy start up. I still thought something might be broken... but stuff it. I couldn't see it and whatever it was it wasn't slowing us down. We were hitting new highs. The timing hut was gone in an instant. I was vaguely aware of Malcolm and George standing on the shore in the shallows. It was just solid, hard speed now. I felt like the boat had forgotten about me and was now just showing itself what it could do. I was a passenger. The leeward pod continued to climb and climb.

Sheeting on wouldn't put it down any more as it just generated speed and hence more apparent. I had no option but to sheet out and bring it all back under control. I ended up way down the end of the beach in the shallows. We survived. That had to be it... that was hard core fast. The boys came down and we got the boat ashore. Ben once again made the long walk down. I didn't check the numbers. I knew it was 60 +. The longer I leave it the more I dial down my emotions. We told everyone to stay up at the hut. We would lower the wing and come up to them. As we got towed up there Alex was looking back at me in the cockpit to make sure I wasn't taking a peak. Everyone was pretty excited when we arrived. We hung VSR2 off a line behind the anchored RIB and walked up to the small group at the old timing huts.