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World Sail Speed Overall Record Holder Greenbird: 126.2 mph, 203 km/h. Set on land. A fantastic feat by Richard Jenkins. Fast only on one tack. Sailed on ice, no record. Photo credit: Peter Lyons
Sail Speed Records to possibly break/establish with a stand inside Wing Skate Sail
1. Break the Sail Speed World Record, 126.2 mph, 203 km/h, - very tough!
2. Establish an Ice Skate Sail Speed Record - simple, doesn't exist.*
3. Establish an Ice Sailing Speed Record, includes ice yachts - tough.*
4. Establish a Sail Speed record for light (cheap) crafts, e g under 22/66 lb, 10/30 kg.*
One can also envison separate classes for: Vehicles that sails fast only on one tack and those which achive the same speed on both tacks. Sailors divided in age groups.
Can possible be done with a cheap simple design (i.e. without breaking the bank - or your back searching for sponsors), a stand inside wing skate sail!
Impossible? The course racing version has beaten big Ice Yachts, similar to the Record Holder. See: Ice Wing beats large ice boats in the USA.
I see no major obstacle to adapt these wing skate sails for much higher speeds.
Please contact for participation in record attempts (Stockholm, Sweden, area) comments, suggestions or questions: andersansar@gmail.com
*Not in Guinness Book of Records
Faster than World Record: 126.2 mph, 203 km/h? Skate Sailor horizontal in streamlining.
Sail in Wing skate sail Ice Wing Speed. Work in progress. Estimated top speed: 100 mph, 160 km/h. Note stabilizer as on the record yacht far left. For more see at similar image below.
Building Instructions coming here.
Four speed skate sail designs. Do you have some suggestion for a faster one?
The speed estimates below may seem high. But consider with a course racing sail I beat USA Skeeter ice yachts. (See: Ice Wing beats large ice boats in the USA ). I bet that practically nobody would have expected 8 ft, 2.5 m, tall, 35 lb, 15 kg, contraption to beat a Skeeter, 25 ft, 7.5 m, tall and weighing all up some 550 lb, 250 kg. Bob Dill: "The Skeeter is the most advanced class of iceboats. It is certainly the most efficient and, arguably, the fastest on ice."
No. 1
Overpowered at 180 mph, 285 km/h in some 40 knots, 20 m/s, of wind, occurs about every five year with suitable ice.
Fastest concept! Bomb inspired Wing Skate Sail. Body horizontal, in bomb shaped streamlining.
Design: Anders Ansar
Data and estimated data, based on course racing sail below.
Sail area 7 sq ft, 0.55 sq m.
Sail Area Factor compared to the Course Racing Sail, see below, is 3. (Square root of 55/0.55 sq ft, 5/0.55 sq m. Square root because the wind forces increase with the wind speed squared.)
Stability factor 1. The horizontal body lowers the center of gravity. Maybe ballast compensates for it.
Total factor 3.
Overpowered at 180 mph, 285 km/h, in some 40 knots, 20 m/s, of wind. (3 times course racing sail.)
Comment: Relatively difficult to build and sail.
This design has the payload in the hull and the lower wing. A mixture of a conventional airplane and a flying wing.
My fastest Skate Sail Concept
The sailor supports himself on one leg in the lower wing. His body is horizontally in the streamlining. The other leg is horizontally backwards in the streamlining. This way the sailor's body resistance is minimized.
This is the fastest skate sailing concept I can come up with. Fastest because its sail area can be made very small.
The streamlining needs horizontal and vertical stabilizers as it is otherwise unstable.
At lower speed he can use booth skates but for top speed he folds his leg into the streamlining, with doors closing like for an airplane landing gear. This leg can have streamlining.
I bit awkward sailing position - but a record run takes only about a minute - and may be you have to give up some comfort for being able to sail at very high speed with simple equipment.
A draw back of the design is that with the sailors body horizontal the sail force decreases a bit. Can be compensated with ballast.
If you have any ideas for a faster skate sail please let me know.
No. 2 I have similar one. See: Wing marked "150 km/h" below left.
Overpowered at 125 mph, 200 km/h, in some 28 knots, 14 m/s of wind, occurs about once per season with suitable ice.
Sail Inside Speed Wing Skate Sail.
Design: Anders Ansar.
Data and estimated data, based on course racing sail below.
Sail area 15 sq ft, 1.35 sq m.
Sail Area Factor compared to the Course Racing Sail, see below, is 1.9. (Square root of 55/15 sq ft, 5/1.35 sq m. (Square root because the wind forces increase with the wind speed squared.)
Stability factor 1.2. 1.1 from ballast. 1.1 from sail area center of effort 0.8 of height of course racing sail.
Total factor 1.9 x 1.2 = 2.09
Overpowered at 125 mph, 200 km/h, in some 27 knots, 13.6 m/s of wind. (2.09 times course racing sail.)
Comment: Easy to build and sail.
This design is equivalent to a flying wing airplane, payload in the wing.
A quite slim person, like me, needs a width of 1 ft, 30 cm, inside the wing when standing a bit sideways, and a height of 6 ft, 1.8 m.
With a 40 % thick section the chord is 2.5 ft, 0 .75 m resulting in an area of 15 sq ft, 1.35 sq m.
No. 3 Note: Buiding at the moment, Jan. 2018
Overpowered at 125 mph, 200 km/h, in some 26 knots, 13 m/s of wind, occurs about once per season with suitable ice. Kneel-Inside Speed Wing Skate Sail.
Design: Anders Ansar
The sailor is inside the wing, kneeling and leaning forward. Height about 3 ft, 1 m.
Data and estimated data, based on course racing sail below.
Sail area 15 sq ft, 1.35 sq m.
Sail Area Factor compared to the Course Racing Sail, see below, is 1.9. (Square root of 55/15 sq ft, 5/1.35 sq m. (Square root because the wind forces increase with the wind speed squared.)
Stability factor 1.1.
Total factor: 2.1
Overpowered at 125 mph, 200 km/h, in 26 knots, 13 m/s of wind. (2.1 times the course racing sail below.)
Comment: Easy to build and relatively easy to sail.
This design is equivalent to a flying wing airplane, payload in the wing.
No.4
Overpowered at 145 mph, 235 km/h. In some 34 knots, 17 m/s of wind, occurs about every four year with suitable ice. Body wing with streamlined legs Speed Wing Skate Sail.
Design: Anders Ansar
The sailor is enclosed in the wing from head to below the hips. His legs are enclosed in separate streamlines not rigidly attached to the wing. Only one of these visible here.Data and estimated data, based on course racing sail below.Sail area 9 sq ft, 0.82 sq m.
Sail Area Factor compared to the Course Racing Sail, see below, is 2.5. (Square root of 55/9 sq ft, 5/0.82 sq m. Square root because the wind forces increase with the wind speed squared.)
Stability factor 1, because the sail area center of effort is shifted higher compared to the Course Racing Sail.
Total factor: 2.5.
Overpowered at 145 mph, 235 km/h, in 34 knots, 17 m/s of wind. (2.5 times the course racing sail below.)
Comment: Easy to sail and relatively easy to build.
This design is mostly a flying wing airplane, payload in the wing. With structural elements, the legs, in streamlining.
Note. The above speed estimates may seem high. But consider the course racing sail beat Skeeters, large American ice yachts. (See: Ice Wing beats large ice boats in the USA ). "The Skeeter is the most advanced class of iceboats. It is certainly the most efficient and, arguably, the fastest on ice." (Quote, Bob Dill, from http://www.nalsa.org/Articles/Cetus/Iceboat%20Sailing%20Performance-Cetus.pdf ). I bet that practically nobody would have expected a 3 ft, 2.5 m, tall, 35 lb, 15 kg, contraption to beat an Ice Yacht, 25 ft, 7.5 m, tall and weighing all up some 550 lb, 250 kg.
Speed Ceiling? Due to winds gustiness? Or somebody have other suggestion?
Under construction
Vt = true wind speed
Vb = boat speed
Va = apparent wind speed
From *
According to Bob Dill land and ice yachts have a speed ceiling, see bottom of this page. In an even wind I think speeds gradually would increase with increasing wind. But in reality we have gusty winds, say 30% more wind in the gusts. When you sail an overpowered craft the angle of attack of the sail/wing is small, say 4 degrees.
When a gust hits Vt in the figure will increase say 30 %. This changes the direction of the Apparent Wind Va, some 5 degrees, to 9 degrees angle of attack. The force of the wing is proportional to the angle of attack so you get a doubling of the sail force. If you are in a land or ice yacht already on the verge of stability, flying the windward wheel or runner, you have to depower quickly or you will capsize.
And then when you get stabilized in the gust you will get a decrease in angle of attack which will luff your sail.
The record yacht Greenbird has a stabilizer behind its wing which quickly adjusts the wing's angle attack back to that before the gust. It may also have some arrangement to adjust the stabilizer to compensate for changes in wind speed.
My High Speed Stand inside Wing Skate Sail. Estimated Top Speed 100 mph, 160 km/h.
This is, as far as I know, the only such sail dedicated to speed.
Data and estimated data, based on course racing sail, at right.
Top speed 100 mph, 160 km/h, at 24 knots, 12 m/s, of wind.
Over powered above 24 knots, 12 m/s, (sailor don't feel safe and avoids going faster).
Sail area 27 sq ft, 2.5 sq m.
This stand inside speed skate sail has an area of only 27 sq ft, 2.5 sq m, half the area of an ordinary course racing sail (see right). Its top speed shall be around 100 mph, 160 km/h.
Here it is at full area. It can be reefed by lowering the top section into the wing. Short video http://youtu.be/rZ0Ihr5UF5A
Course racing sails have an area of around 55 sq feet, 5 sq m, because they are adapted to the average wind speed of some 6 knots, 3 m/s, they experience.
We have measured 59 mph, 95 km/h, in a 13 knots, 6.5 m/s, breeze but we sail, much overpowered, in twice as strong winds, 26 knots, 13 m/s, with an estimated speed of 75 mph, 120 km/h.
With this wing overpowering should come around 110 mph, 170 km/h (square root of 2 = 1.44 times higher speed). Not twice as high because wind forces increase with the square of the speed.
Testing so far
I found out first season that the wing was too cramped inside. The next season the wing was modified to a greater width. Since then it has been tested in winds gusting 10 m/s, 20 knots, and proven unstable even at low speeds.
It is known that thick foils have a switching behavior: when you change the angle of attack from zero the force first comes from the "wrong side", then switches to the right side.
It is also know that this can be cured by giving the foil a cut off rear edge. This modification has been done.
The wing has a stabilizer. The instability may also come from the thick wake hitting the stabilizer. Planning to move the stabilizer sideways into the smooth wind, for starboard tack.
We'll see what future modifications and tests will give.
My Building and sailing instructions. for ordinary sails, not for record speeds. (With a Wing Sailing article.) should give you good guidance to build and sail one of these.
Course Racing Wing Skate Sail. The benchmark!
Beats large Ice Yachts. See: Ice Wing beats the large ice boats in the USA.
Top speed around 68 mph, 110 km/h. It is a construction class with absolutely no restrictions.
Data and estimated data
Measured speed 59 mph, 95 km/h, in 13 knots, 6.5 m/s of wind.
Over powered above 14 knots, 7 m/s (sailor don't feel safe and avoids going faster).
Can be sailed in 30 knots, 15 m/s. When pointing and broad reaching is used to keep the relative wind speed down.
Measured: Beam reaches 6 times faster than the wind in light wind .
Sails 4 times faster than the wind at 59 mph, 95 km/h in 13 knots, 6.5 m/s
Sail area, free, typically 55 sq ft, 5 sq m.
Height and length at bottom, free, typically 8.3 ft, 2.5 m.
Weight around 30 lb, 15 kg.
Sailor with clothes and skates 165 lb, 75 kg.
Profile thickness around 20%.
Note. Aspect ratio is very low. If you make the wing taller its force ends up above your shoulder and you have to keep the wing from tilting around your shoulder with your muscles which is tiring. A high placed ballast could counter this tilting moment.
Here I sail one of my Course Racing Ice-Wing skate sails on ice. I am inside the wing which hangs on my shoulders. Ice skates on the feet. The front of the wing is transparent. I have designed, built and raced some twenty of these skate sails.
We have measured, in Sweden, 59 mph, 95 km/h in 14.5 mph, 6.5 m/s, for a 55 sq ft, 5 sq m course racing [stand inside] wing sail. That is 4 times faster than the wind.
We sail in twice as fast winds, 26 knots, 13 m/s, and the speed then maybe is 75 mph, 120 km/h. That is not 4 times faster than the wind as this factor decreases with speed.
Also a factor can be that one is becoming more and more over rigged at those speeds, the gust hits you hard and you are pushed to leeward followed by an absence of support when the gust leaves you. You feel you may crash either way and avoid sailing faster to keep safe.
In light winds we sail 6 times faster than the wind. These sails are adopted to around 6 knots, 3 m/s wind speed which is the average wind in Sweden when we have ice.
Note. A wind surfer on ice needs about twice the wind speed, 27 knots, 13 m/s, to reach 60 mph, 96 km/h. Mainly because his body creates a very large aerodynamic drag.
This is wing sailing in its most refined form. It consists only of the bare minimum for sailing - a wing.
A reefable design - top sections can be removed.
Contrary to the land sail speed record holder Greenbird (2009) and, other ice/land/snow sailing concepts with wings, America's Cup and Little America's Cup 2013 catamarans etc, this design:
Has no aerodynamic drag from hulls/planks/stays/sailor/cockpit/wheels/runners etc. The only aerodynamic drag is from the wing itself which is unavoidable.
The Greenbird wing alone has the ability to sail some 60 times faster than the wind. That means it has e.g. 10 lb of drag when creating 600 lb of force. But when all the other drags are added it can sail only some four times faster than the wind. The other drags amount to some 140 lb! With a [stand inside] wing only you get rid of most of these - except wheel, runner, ski or surfboard drag.
Also when it comes to the drag of the sailing surface it is minimum when sailed on ice. Wheels, hydrofoils, boards, hulls etc. create much larger drag.
A wing skate sailor normally supports his weight on one skate only. To sail a desired course and steer the sailor trims the wing backwards/forward until in equilibrium. This eliminates the drag of an unbalanced craft. The Greenbird yacht e.g. most probably creates drag because the sail force tries to make the yacht 'bear away' or 'head up wind' which has to be resisted with steering which causes drag.
A wing sailor sailing at top speed in a strong wind. He leans to windward to balance the force of the wind. Speed is some 120 km/h, 75 mph.
The fantastic absolute sail speed record holder Greenbird, Richard Jenkins, 2013, 126.2 mph, 203 km/h
Photo credit: Peter Lyons
Stand inside wing skate sail, below. A bit to scale to the Greenbird yacht at the left.
6 ft 1.8 m, tall instead of Greenbird's 24 ft, 8 m.
This is basically an aerodynamically refined E-skeeter ice boat adapted to strong wind sailing by decreasing the sail area. Height is about 24 ft, 8 m.The wing itself is capable of sailing some 60 times faster than the wind. But the drag of the wheels and the aerodynamic drag of hull, cockpit, exposed wheels, wheels streamlining and plank brings this down to a mere some 4 times faster than the wind - the same as we have measured for Ice Wings. Photo credit: Peter Lyons
Costs of wing skate sail and logistics are negligible compared to e.g. Greenbird
Think small and make it on a budget! Material for a wing starts from somewhere around US$ 500. You can build it in your drawing room. Richard built his craft in Hong Kong. He needs a ship/plane/trailer to move it around...
When I raced my wing in the USA (built in my drawing room) I took it, disassembled, from Europe, as checked luggage on the plane, the long bits masquerading as skies. I assembled it in Red Bank, at the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club, if I remember right.
Then I beat the E-skeeters, see: Ice Wing beats the large ice boats in the USA. Wins One-of-a-Kind race.
Don't be intimidated by the big expensive designs
Some wannabes record breakers get intimidated by large expensive contraptions.
No need! See e.g. the [water] kite-board, cost some 2000 US$, holding the record (2010) against the giant Hydroptere, one cost estimate 5 million US$.
A nice saving of 4 998 000 US$!
Hydroptere's speed/stability is probably restricted by cavitating hydrofoils. The kiteboard doesn't have these problems as it always has air only on its upper side.
The water sail board, windsurfer, cost some 2000 US$, beating the large Yellow Pages 2004, cost estimate 1 million US$.
The windsurfer and kite-board have 15 sail speed records out of 24 (Dec. 2010). The other belongs to 4 big crafts. See: http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/500-metre-records.html
Think small and simple - no need for a sponsor!
I believe many designers think too grand, because they have a feeling it must be big, complicated and built from expensive materials to go fast.
Costs are beyond their means and they have to try hard to find a sponsor - and few are lucky. Richard Jenkins, Greenbird, the outright record holder 2013: "Ecotricity, who were the only sponsor, of the thousands I must have spoken to over the years, who believed in the project and the dream."
Think small and make it on a budget! Material for a wing starts from somewhere around US$ 500. You can put it together in your drawing room. Richard built his craft in Hong Kong, he needs a trailer or plane or ship to move it around...
Think small and don't run out of resources. WindCat
See halfway down: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-ghinn/11/350/166
1994 – 2002 (8 years) UK
In 1994 I set about designing a land yacht capable of exceeding 100mph & setting a new world speed record.
Design focused on ultra-low drag, light weight, & high power. Theoretical projections were calculated...... Control of direction & power were critical......
A radio-controlled model was created to verify the theory. It was fast, stable, & shockingly controllable.
A full-sized, 4-wheeled steel chassis, rack & pinion steering, adjustable height/rate suspension, 2 fully enclosed cockpits, & hydraulic brakes was created. A system was produced to control the fully rigid sails via the all-flying tailplane.
Runway tests were conducted at East Kirkby Airfield to establish controllability.
Two rigid sails & individually moulded seats were to be added to complete the craft, and Nevada was to be the next testing arena. This needed a budget that took the project out of the range of a working family man managing a project with 10 volunteers.
Big is Fast?
A man thinking "Big is Fast!" is Daniel T. Campo Sr. with his XXL ice/land yacht Miss Wisconsin. Nice guy. I met him on Ivanpah Dry Lake when he was there at the America's Cup for Land Yachts - without his yacht. Dimensions Length: 42 ft. Width: 28 ft. Sail area, wing mast plus sail: 176 sq ft.
No verified claims of high speed yet as far as I know.
For sale! Asking price is $25,000
Image non Ansar copyright
Lower right: Thinking very complicated, expensive and quite big!
The kite board is simple, cheap and fastest, on water, 2011.
The kite foil board is simple, cheap and fastest, on water, 2017.
Image non Ansar copyright
Data for two thick foils. NACA 0025 and NACA 0035
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc66369/m2/1/high_res_d/19930091786.pdf
Note the slow Cl build up, 0.45 per 10 degrees compared to the NACA 0025 airfoil: 0.65 per 10 degrees.
I think this will make the thick wings less sensitive to gusts. Which may make it possible to sail them to higher speeds than those with thinner foils.
It looks like the skate friction is decreasing with speed, which is good news. I thought it was the other way around.
"Using a high-speed tribometer, coefficients of friction for bobsled runners were measured over a wide range of loads and speeds. Between 2.8 m/s and 28 m/s (equal to 10 km/h and 100 km/h), the measured coefficients of friction showed a linear decrease with increasing speed.
The experiments revealed ultra-low friction coefficients of less than 0.01 after exceeding a sliding speed of about 20 m/s. At maximum speed of 28 m/s, the average coefficient of friction was 0.007."
From: High-Speed Ice Friction Experiments under Lab Conditions: On the Influence of Speed and Normal Force: http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/tribology/2013/703202/
For a 220 lb, 100 kg, craft the ice friction should be in the 2.2 lb, 1 kp, 10 N range.
There is a lot of research going on on very thick, air foils, because they are used at the root of wind turbine blades. But not over 40 % what I found. Search Google, e.g. thick foils root wind turbine blades. you find
e.g. http://windpower.sandia.gov/2008BladeWorkshop/PDFs/Tues-05-vanDam.pdf and
http://orbit.dtu.dk/fedora/objects/orbit:111502/datastreams/file_7946702/content
The previous Sail Speed Record holder. This is the equally fantastic Iron Duck 116.7 mph (187.7 kph). Pilot: Bob Schumacher. March 20, 1999. Second fastest pilot: Bob Dill: 112.3 mph
For plenty of details see http://www.nalsa.org/speed_record.htm
Pictures below non Ansar copyright
Looking at speed per dollar I think it beats Greenbird
At speed
Belt in
View from the front of Iron Duck's rear. Plenty of steel tubing.
Forming the hull and the cockpit.
In there are the pedals for the steering of the front wheel.
When skate sailing in a wing:
No need for hull and cockpit. You just stay in the wing - which you need anyhow.
You steer the wing with your feet, skates.
Rear view of Iron Duck. Plenty of machinery here. What you see here I think is:
The chain drive for the sheeting, adjustment of angle, for the wing. The pilot turns a wheel in front of him.
And the support for the wing.
When skate sailing in a wing you simply uses what nature gave you:
You adjust the angle of the wing by just turning you body.
The wing is supported on your body by a pair of shoulder straps.
Don't miss this video!
A fantastic compilation of ice and land yachts with solid wing sails, by John Eisenlohr. Iceboating And Landsailing The Evolution Of The Solid Wing
About Iron Duck, from: http://www.nalsa.org/nov_99_newsletter.htm
The average efficiency for the highest speed runs was about 4:1 or a little better. Most of the time the winds were a "gust weighted" 25 to 30 mph when the Duck was approaching the motor home. If it had been windier, we could have gone faster.
What is it like to sail this beast? Let me just say that there is a BIG difference between what I imagined when I was building the boat and the actual sailing of the boat at speed. That difference is aptly described as "pucker factor". The boat is a hand full but we both are finally getting used to how it behaves and are gaining confidence that it is unlikely to do anything really crazy.
Once it is moving fast it doesn't do anything quickly except cover ground. Slowing down and turning take a LOT of room. Inside it sounds like a cross between a jet airplane and a freight train with the wind noise and all the creaking and clanging of its innards.
Designing land and ice sail crafts for Record Speeds - read before you build!
Sailing Yacht Design for Maximum Speed, Bob Dill, Burlington VT: http://archive.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/tt/bobdill.pdf
Very informative reading if you are interested in land and ice record speed sailing. Excerpts.
This chart, from link in right column, shows there is a ceiling for the speeds of the Skeeter and the DN. Presumably also for the Stand Inside Skate Sail. I didn't expect that. I expected an increasing speed with increasing wind. I guess the ceiling comes from the sailor feeling unsafe as the gusts batters the craft.
"Experience by other land sailors had shown that the potential benefits of laminar sections are not easily realized given the amount of vibration in the yacht..." The project has been a proper amateur effort without the distraction of seeking sponsorship. The overall material cost of the two yachts was about $6,000. "It took 4 years of trials and modifications to get the yacht and pilots dialed in." "At speed in the Duck this might result in a high-speed forward cartwheel. This was not something we wanted to experience." "At 70+ in the overpowered yacht the warm thoughts of success that filled my head during the design and building phase were replaced with all the ways things could come to a bad end. Bob said it best as he climbed out of the yacht after an early run: “I am sure this thing will go faster, I am just not sure it will be with me in it”. "The Ghinn brothers in England have been working on a craft they call WindCat. It is a two hulled affair with a wing on each hull. They have been held back by financial constraints." Windjet: "Bill Green built the yacht out of the usual composite materials for a reputed cost of over $100,000. It is an impressive looking machine and there is no duct tape in evidence in any of the pictures on their extensive website."
Ice Wing beat large American ice boats: https://sites.google.com/site/iwbeatsiceboat/
Main page Skate Sailing https://sites.google.com/site/icewinghomepage/
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