109.57 knots makes Richard the fastest sailor on earth

4:35 AM Sun 29 Mar 2009 GMT

'Greenbird at speed - photo by Peter Lyons' .

While on water Australian sailors Simon McKeon and Tim Daddo have just broken the speed barrier of 50 knots in their sailing boat Macquarie Innovation, a British engineer has become the fastest human on earth powered by the wind alone, in a land sailing boat.

Richard Jenkins clocked 109.57 knots in his Ecotricity 'Greenbird' powered only by 25 knot winds. He eclipsed the previous record of 100.8 knots, set by American Bob Schumacher ten years ago.

The Greenbird, which looks like a stretched missile with a giant fin, is the most advanced wind powered vehicle on Earth. It uses technology found on Aircraft and Formula 1 cars to achieve staggering speeds without an engine.

Eco-businessman Dale Vince OBE and Richard Jenkins had hoped to set a new record in Australia last August, but waited in vain for ideal dry conditions.

Their record run finally took place this week at Lake Ivanpah just south of Las Vegas, coincidentally in the same week as the fifty knot barrier was broken on water.

The Greenbird accelerated from rest to record speed across the full 2-mile length of the lake.

They were cheered on by over 100 land sailors, during the 'Americas cup' (land sailing) regatta.

A hug for the fastest sailing human Richard Jenkins - photo by Peter Lyons - .. .

Mr Vince said: 'The record is an amazing achievement. It shows what is achievable with great British engineering and the power of the wind. In the next twenty years I firmly believe that wind power will be our main energy source and wind-powered cars will no longer be the stuff of dreams. He said Ecotricity would soon be revealing a wind-powered super car for everyday use.

The Greenbird is the fifth generation in a line of vehicles designed and built by Richard Jenkins on his ten year quest to break the world speed record.
The name is a nod to Donald Campbell's Bluebird, a fuel-powered car which achieved record speeds in the 60s.

Testing was carried out in the UK, Canada, America and Australia, in an attempt to track down the rare set of weather and natural surface conditions required to achieve maximum speed.

'It has been an incredibly difficult challenge,' Mr Jenkins said. 'Half the challenge is technical, having to create a more efficient vehicle than the previous record holder, then the rest is luck, being in the right place, at the right time, to get the perfect conditions, with the right people watching.
I must have been on record standby at some remote location around the world for at least two months of every year for the past ten years.

'Then everything came together perfectly and the Greenbird stepped up to the mark and performed amazingly. I am absolutely delighted.'

www.dailmail.co.uk

by Claire Bates, Mailonline/Sail-World

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