01 April 2009
Wot Rocket returns to new Holy Grail
Following a spectacular crash last August that resulted in multiple breakages, the Australian Wot Rocket world speed record attempt is gearing up again with creator Sean Langman and co-pilot Joe de Kock stepping back into the pod.
In the last six months the bar has been raised by the kite boarding community, which has twice broken the 50 knot barrier over 500 metres, forcing visionaries such as Langman to establish a new Holy Grail and push themselves and their technology even harder to make the record books.
“Whilst I congratulate the kite boarders, I feel going 50 knots in 50 knots of wind is akin to falling off a cliff,” believes Langman. “Wot Rocket is exciting as we push to sail up to three times the speed of the wind.” |
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Wot Rocket’s testing ground has moved north from Botany Bay to Lake Macquarie due to the proximity to Noakes Newcastle yard, where modifications can be easily made, and the flat water. Instead of a bumpy westerly or nor’east chop, Wot Rocket can utilise the smooth runway, allowing it to build speed to the point the half sail boat half sail plane starts lifting up on its foils, much like an international Moth.
The first trial off Belmont’s 16 foot skiff club was held a couple of weeks ago with former league star now TV frontman Andrew Ettingshausen stepping into the co-pilot’s seat as part of a film shoot for The Discovery Channel program Sportstar Insider.
TV commitments aside, in a 16 knot sou’easter Langman and de Kock, the crash test dummy from last August, took the opportunity to try out the latest round of modifications including a new closed hydraulic steerage system which controls the aft foil direct from the pilot’s control column. The new hydraulic cylinders mean the pilot can turn the rudder with ease and adjust the pitch of the foil by increments of half degrees.
The new hydraulic system has added set up time but once the oil has bled the pilot can push a button and the controls respond like a flight simulator as opposed to the previous push/pull rod and cable system which flexed and lagged.
Project manager Josh Alexander explains: “The closed hydraulics are direct rather than the lag time created by the previous rod and cable system. The hydraulics are 1:1 which means the steering wheel and tail plane joy stick are connected directly to hydraulic rams, the force generated by the movement of these elements moving the interconnected rams. No power other than human is employed.”
“The maneuverability was the best it’s ever been,” reports Langman of their first test sail for the year. “Previously I wasn’t able to control Wot Rocket in more than seven knots. It was hard to push it along without knowing how to stop.”
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The idea of an extension piece that jettisons off has been put to one side for now - the force it exerted on the wing sail was pushing the nose of the hull down.
To bring the forces into alignment Wot Rocket’s wing size has been increased by 15% with a metre added to the top of the carbon fibre wing sail and a strip added along the trailing edge. |
A new Nexus instrument package has been installed including a wind wand on the leading edge of the wing sail that gathers data which allows the co-pilot to trim to the apparent wind angle.
“Rather than sailing like a sailor we are now flying like a pilot, and sticking with our numbers,” Langman added.
The Wot Rocket sailing team has doubled since its last outing, Martin Thompson returning from an overseas stint to join Joe de Kock as co-pilot while project manager Josh Alexander will take the driver’s controls regularly during the testing phase to allow Langman to observe and explain to co-designer Andy Dovell what’s happening inside the pod.
“I’m going to be more involved in the design process, to do this I’m getting off the boat. But when we go for it officially I’ll be driving, unless a different combination proves superior,” Langman admitted.
The Wot Rocket team is ready to mobilise at Belmont when ideal conditions - 16-18 knots out of the south east - present. |
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The current 500 metre World Sailing Speed Record of 50.57 knots (93.6 kph) was established by French kite boarder Alexandre Caizergues at Luderitz, Namibia, late last year.
Close to the record mark are Australian sailors Simon McKeon and Tim Daddo who made history in 1993 with the Lindsay Cunningham designed Yellow Pages.
The pair leapt back into the limelight last Thursday night when Macquarie Innovation powered down the Sandy Point speed course near Wilsons Promontory in Victoria at an average speed of 50.43 knots, coming within a whisper of breaking Caizergues’ record.
Noakes Boat & Shipyards and Graeme Wood, founder of Australasia's number one accommodation website Wotif.com, are major sponsors of Wot Rocket. Other sponsors are Nexus Marine, Warringah Plastics, Harken, Gurit Australia and Superyachting.
Images courtesy of Christophe Launay - Marine Photography
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20 November 2008
Wot Rocket has been re-built and will return to the water in 2009
Following a spectacular cartwheel Wot Rocket has been re-built and will return to the water in 2009 to chase the new official world speed record of 49.84 knots recently set by a kite surfer.
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12 August 2008
Spectacular cartwheel ends Wot Rocket’s first official world speed record attempt
A sudden spectacular cartwheel has ended Wot Rocket’s first round of official attempts on the 500m world speed sailing record on Botany Bay.
With the pod lifting out of the water on a number of occasions this morning and pilot Sean Langman’s confidence building, he decided to trial a different runway on flatter water just off Dolls Point.
In an 18-20 knot westerly wind Wot Rocket accelerated to an estimated 30 knots of boat speed before the crew found themselves flying blind, without instruments and with co-pilot Joe De Jock unable to ease the wing sail and Langman unable to steer.
“I tried to bear away and we fully pitch poled (end over end),” said Langman this afternoon, the adrenalin still pumping hard as he waited for a crane to help pull Wot Rocket apart for loading onto its trailer.
“We went for the run of the day. It was the best nose dive I’ve ever done...and walked away from.”
Until the project team fully investigates, the reason why Wot Rocket went belly up won’t be known. Langman’s hunch is that there was too much load on the front foil.
When asked how De Kock’s nerves were fairing, given it was only his second day sitting in the rear of the pod, Langman proudly proclaimed him “a lunatic”.
“Just before the crash Joe was telling me how much he loves sailing with me...I don’t think that’s changed,” Langman added.
The damage report is substantial and Langman estimates it will be weeks before they are back on the water. A quick once over this afternoon has revealed a broken mast step, suspected delamination of the Nomex in the wing sail and broken fairing on the transverse beam. A new set of instruments will also have to be ordered.
The Wot Rocket project team will have to lodge another notice of intention to attempt the 500 world speed sailing record with the World Sailing Speed Record Council and then nominate another seven day window within a 30 day timeframe.
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11 August 2008
World speed record attempt: Day 1, Monday 11 August
Today heralded the start of Wot Rocket’s first official attempt on the 500m world speed sailing record of 49.09 knots.
With a World Sailing Speed Record Council commissioner and surveyor present, Sean Langman and his new co-pilot, Joe De Kock, took to the waters of Botany Bay in a WSW breeze that peaked at 17 knots before Wot Rocket headed ashore at midday for further steering refinements.
This afternoon at the launch pad at Kurnell the main hull rudder is being enlarged and a small rudder that was being trialled on the pod is being removed after it created drag as well as an opening for salt water. With a team of experts on hand De Kock estimates they’ve got around six hours work ahead of them before tomorrow’s second bout.
If the morning temperatures of 7-10 degrees and biting westerlies weren’t enough to bring on the winter woes, sitting in water inside the pod proved a bit hard to swallow for the new co-pilot. De Kock has sailed over 100,000 nautical miles with Langman and is no stranger to harsh conditions but he struggled today inside the cold watery compartment.
“I was worried about getting frostbite,” he joked. “The point when my feet went numb was actually a blessing because then I couldn’t tell how cold they were.”
De Kock has been brought in to replace former co-pilot Martin Thompson. A highly experienced 18 foot skiff, 49er and offshore sailor, De Kock also is the yard manager at Langman’s Noakes site at Newcastle, where Wot Rocket’s hull and wing sail were built, and has been involved in the project from the outset.
Tomorrow’s forecast is for W/SW 15-20 knots easing to SW-S/10-12 on Wednesday, although Wednesday’s models disagree at this stage with some showing WSW 28-25 knots all day. Thursday’s forecast is looking favourable with WSW 17-24 knots winds on the cards ahead of another promising day on Friday.
Given the likelihood it would coincide with the sort of weather window traditionally offered up in August, the Aussies nominated this week for their assault on the world speed sailing record. So far they’ve hit the mark.
The first round of attempts will go through until this Sunday, 17 August. If Wot Rocket fails to make its mark within the seven day window Langman and his team will be back after Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - and hungrier than ever.
Wot Rocket sponsors Noakes Boat & Shipyards and Graeme Wood, founder of Australasia's number one accommodation website Wotif.com, Nexus, Warringah Plastics, Harken, Gurit Australia and Superyachting.
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23 July 2008
Wot Rocket up up and away....almost; now for the Sydney Boat Show
While still temperamental, Wot Rocket showed a flash of its awesome potential yesterday on Botany Bay when it lifted up out of the water, engaging one hydrofoil before nosediving at 20 knots of boat speed.
“Getting it up on the foils is a lay down misere,” believes pilot Sean Langman after the latest test sail which he says was “a huge step in the right direction”.
With Wot Rocket accelerating and rising up out of the water - as it’s designed to do - in the bitterly cold 15-18 knot south westerly breeze, Langman pushed forward on the control stick to stop the bow lifting any further and to level out the ‘flight’. This is when the two joints in the rod that control the tail plane failed.
“I pushed forward on the stick, heard a bang and we fully nosedived. Luckily there’s no audio in the pod because Tac and I were screaming like a couple of kids. We couldn’t see anything outside the pod because of the condensation so we were flying blind,” laughed Langman.
Following minor modifications Wot Rocket’s next appearance will be in a rather different setting - the Sydney International Boat Show.
An invitation from Boat Show organisers was extended and the Wot Rocket project team has embraced the idea of having the 9m carbon fibre sail boat/plane exhibited as a special attraction.
For six days from 31 July to 5 August at the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre, Wot Rocket will be rigged from the ceiling in Hall 2, near the Better Boating Lounge.
“For those who haven’t had a chance to get down to Kurnell for the sea trials it’s a great opportunity to see Wot Rocket before we start official attempts on the 500m world speed sailing record on Botany Bay in August,” Langman said today.
Boating Industry Association marketing and events manager Domenic Genua believes Wot Rocket will generate plenty of interest amongst the 80,000 expected visitors.
“Wot Rocket is a one-of-a-kind radical Australian design and this is a great opportunity to see it up close. Should Sean be successful in his world record attempt next month, Australia will be back on top of the honour roll for the first time since 1993.
“We are delighted that Sean and his crew have agreed to take time out from their sea trials and prior to official attempts commencing to be part of the Boat Show,” Genua added.
Wot Rocket sponsors Noakes Boat & Shipyards and Graeme Wood, founder of Australasia's number one accommodation website Wotif.com, Nexus, Warringah Plastics, Harken, Gurit Australia and Superyachting.
Further information on the Sydney International Boat Show www.sydneyboatshow.com.au or call 1300 7BOATS
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1 July 2008
Wot Rocket’s chance to fly blown away with wild winter westerly
Today was the day Wot Rocket pilot Sean Langman and wing man Martin Thompson were going to ‘fly’ but the opportunity was blown out of the water following a delay getting off the beach at Kurnell in Sydney’s south east.
With 30 knot nor’westerly gusts hurtling across Botany Bay and a building sea, the support team had plenty on trying to hold the 9m sail boat/plane head to wind as it bucked and reared, the breeze under the hull lifting the whole thing skywards.
Earlier, as the wind hovered at the 22-25 knot mark, Langman and Thompson decided to give it a crack but as the media gathered for the much anticipated first shot of Wot Rocket up on its hydrofoils, the breeze hit the high twenties and the test sail was abandoned.
With his father Peter down from Queensland, son, Peter junior, support team and a handful of die hard spectators braving the windswept beach, it was a disappointing end to the day for Langman but he’s ever philosophical, “we all want the thrill but it’s not a setback, it’s all about inching closer toward the goal”.
Wot Rocket’s notice of intention to make an attempt on the 500m world speed sailing record has now been lodged with the World Sailing Speed Record Council in the UK.
The Aussie mavericks are hoping the Council will approve the use of a Trimble GPS receiver, which will record their speed, by the end of the week and once they have the green light, two Speed Council representatives will be on standby for 28 days, the window allocated for an official attempt, to check the GPS’s calibration and ratify the time should Wot Rocket smash through the current record of 49.09 knots.
Thanks to a diet of “emotional stress” Langman has intentionally dropped three kilos. Other luxuries like water bottle holders have also been removed from Wot Rocket’s pod, shaving precious grams off the overall weight.
With Wot Rocket heading back to the workshop for further modifications, including additional bulkheads, the next test sail, which may become the first official attempt depending on the Council’s advice, is scheduled for next week.
Sponsors Noakes Boat & Shipyards and Graeme Wood, founder of Australasia's number one accommodation website Wotif.com, Nexus, Warringah Plastics, Harken, Gurit Australia and Superyachting.
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27 June 2008
Forecast ideal for Wot Rocket test sail Tuesday 1 July
Given this weekend’s light forecast and the fact the latest round of modifications to Wot Rocket are still in progress, the next planned test sail for Australia’s world speed sailing record attempt will be on Botany Bay on Tuesday 1 July 2008.
The forecast for Tuesday is for westerly winds of 15-20 knots, the perfect wind range for Wot Rocket’s design space according to pilot Sean Langman who has now conducted sea trials in varying wind speeds and believes “everything is pushing us back to 15-20 knots”.
With its new rudder profile, leaner and meaner crew thanks to a crash diet possibly linked to suggestions the pilot had been carb loading, and an ideal forecast, Tuesday could be the day Wot Rocket spectacularly lifts up out of the water on its hydrofoils.
With no word as yet from the World Sailing Speed Record Council on whether the Wot Rocket project team can take its own time using a Trimble GPS receiver, next Tuesday’s sail is at this stage a test sail rather than an official attempt on the 500m world speed sailing record of 49.09 knots (90.9 kph).
It’s a case of ‘toot sweet’ for the Aussies with the flying trimaran l’Hydroptere scheduled to head to Vieux Port of Marseille, the base for the French assault on the very same record Wot Rocket is chasing, three days ago.
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23 June 2008
Wot Rocket Update
The Wot Rocket team packed up at Kurnell last Friday following their most successful week of testing according to creator and pilot Sean Langman.
Another valuable finding came from Friday’s test sail, the crew of Langman and co-pilot Martin Thompson discovering that each time Wot Rocket’s pod went to lift out of the water, the pilot experienced difficulties steering.
The team realised that the rudder’s aluminium control rods were bending so this week those rods are being replaced with carbon fibre rods. The rudder is also being reshaped so it’s better balanced and doesn’t self-centre.
Thursday’s forecast is the most promising for the week with a 15-20 knot WNW breeze expected however Langman says “it will be a scramble to be ready by Thursday given the latest round of modifications”.
He believes a weekend test sail is more realistic but with the long range forecast showing the breeze only hovering in the 10-12 knot range for both Saturday and Sunday, the prospect of Wot Rocket getting up on its foils, which is when supercavitation is expected to come into play, looks set to be deferred for another time.
“We are slowly clawing our way forward,” says Langman, who still has plenty of fire in his belly, particularly with the latest threat from the French to pip him to post in the race to break through 50 knots, the holy grail of sailing.
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19 June 2008
Two countries, two hemispheres, two objectives...one victor
Two countries in opposing hemispheres are now vying to be the first to break the current world speed sailing record, and crack the holy grail of 50 knots, regarded as the equivalent to the aeronautical sound barrier.
“No one remembers the second man to walk on the moon,” says Sean Langman, the creator and pilot of the radical purpose-built Australian 9m sail boat/sail plane called Wot Rocket who is acutely aware of the “race against the French to the 50”, and the possibility they could snatch his boyhood dream clean away.
Wot Rocket’s 500m world speed sailing record attempt was forced to shift gears following the launch of the French flying trimaran l’Hydroptere on 22 May.
“I want to go official now because the French have. Everything’s been stamped urgent,” admits Langman.
He is currently awaiting advice from the World Sailing Speed Record Council on whether a Trimble GPS receiver can officially record Wot Rocket’s speed. This would negate the need to have an official timekeeper on the course each time Wot Rocket heads out to attempt to beat French sail boarder Antoine Albeau’s fastest time over 500m of 49.09 knots (90.9 kph), and break through the magic 50 knot milestone.
Last Saturday l’Hydroptere clocked 46.8 knots according to their web site, Langman admitting the “brutish French design can probably be pushed harder, but I believe we have the ability to go faster” he says.
In the past few weeks, Wot Rocket has undergone further refinements following three more sea trials on Botany Bay, the stretch of flat water where the official attempt will eventually take place.
The latest test sail, conducted yesterday, saw the entire project team including designer Andy Dovell on site for the first time. While the 8-12 knot forecast breeze failed to materialise at the upper end, “it was good to get the program back on track following a number of setbacks,” said Langman today.
“We have suffered some issues with our control systems and have spent more than 300 hours further modifying the design. It’s really been a process of elimination”.
Yesterday also marked the first successful trial of a newly built wing extension.
“Because the rules state we have to have a standing start, we plan to initially use the wing extension for more horsepower to get the pod free of the water. Then, once we reach 30 knots of speed we shall fire off the top wing section,” explains Langman.
This staged approach is where the ‘Rocket’ name originated, Langman likening Wot Rocket’s take off to a Saturn V rocket, which jettisons parts as it races out of the earth’s gravitational pull.
Once the Trimble GPS is installed, likely to be this weekend, and the Wot Rocket project team is given the green light by the Speed Council to record its own speed, a notice of intention to make a record attempt will be lodged with the Council.
From that point onwards, each sail will be regarded as an official attempt on the current world record.
“There is no time to waste. The French launching has definitely moved our plans along,” co-pilot Martin Thompson added.
Yet another sponsor has thrown its support behind the Australian speed record attempt. Superyachting is a Sydney based company that regularly supplies assets to the movie industry and has been involved with breaking existing records and setting new benchmarks for six passage records in the Pacific Rim Basin.
“The team at Superyachting is privileged to provide support to the Wot Rocket project to achieve the 50 knot and world speed record by supplying Protector Ribs as support and media vessels,” says Christopher Stirling.
Noakes Boat & Shipyards and Graeme Wood, founder of Australasia's number one accommodation website Wotif.com, are major sponsors of Wot Rocket.
Other sponsors are Warringah Plastics, Harken, Gurit Australia and Superyachting.
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15 May 2008
Wot Rocket eases into on-water testing program
On the vast expanse of Botany Bay, Wot Rocket‘s final day of sea trials for this first testing period attracted a couple of curious seagulls and equally inquisitive recreational boaters who were scratching their heads at the half boat half plane with the crew sitting in a two-seater pod modelled on a glider.
With a huge high pressure system blanketing the NSW coast this week, Wot Rocket creator and pilot Sean Langman and co-pilot Martin Thompson and their support crew haven’t seen much over eight knots across flat water, perfect conditions for easing into the testing program but frustrating nonetheless for the two adrenalin junkies.
“I know I’m supposed to be cautious...but I’d love 30 knots of breeze,” admitted Langman this afternoon at the end of the second day of light air testing off Kurnell in Sydney’s south as the jets screamed overhead on their way to and from Sydney Airport.
“Wot Rocket was designed for 20-25 knots so this week we’ve been well outside our design space, but it’s been a good opportunity to learn to drive it and recover it.
“I’m surprised it’s going as well as it is in this breeze. It’s akin to getting a formula one race car and putting it on a rally track,” he added.
The crew has for the past two days practised the basics including steering, sheeting the carbon fibre wing sail on and off and recovering and towing Wot Rocket using a support vessel.
While the design and building materials are super high tech, some old fashioned practicalities had to be deployed by the crew today. As the breeze slowly filled in across the bay this afternoon, Langman and Thompson had to swim from the hull to the pod and clamber into their seats, and when Wot Rocket began sailing backwards after stalling in the light air, it was all arms out of the pod paddling.
Reaching along at 5.5 knots of boat speed in a 6 knot ENE sea breeze with steering proving tricky and the wing sail constantly falling inwards due to the lack of wind, a hint of the design’s speed potential was showcased today.
When the entire craft lifts up out of the water on its foils, supercavitation is expected to propel Wot Rocket forward at awesome speeds giving Langman, Thompson and project partner Graeme Wood a serious chance at bettering the world speed sailing record of 49.09 knots with less than half the wind strength French sail boarder Antoine Albeau capitalised on when he established the current record back in March.
Wot Rocket will be returned to its shed at Noakes tomorrow where around 250 hours worth of minor modifications will begin including realigning the bow so it doesn’t dig in as much, refining some of the systems and refining the wing sail, which only came out of its mould last Friday and is still curing.
Langman hopes to be back on the water within the next few weeks for a second round of testing with an official attempt likely to occur in the winter months when solid westerlies typically hit Sydney.
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6 May 2008
Countdown to Australian world speed sailing record attempt begins
The countdown to Australia’s attempt to reclaim the 500m world speed sailing record last held in 1993 will begin this week with a crew safety drill before on-water trials commence on Botany Bay next week.
With a diver on hand, pilot Sean Langman and co-pilot Martin Thompson will practice an emergency evacuation from the upside down pod of Wot Rocket in the Qantas pool this Thursday 8 May at 10am.
Then, from Tuesday 13 to Friday 16 May, Wot Rocket will be launched at the seaside suburb of Kurnell to attempt to break the current world speed sailing record of 49.09 knots (90.9 kilometres per hour) set by French sail boarder Antoine Albeau in France in March this year.
Should the record be broken unofficially, a bona fide World Sailing Speed Record Council timekeeper will be called in to ratify the time during an official attempt to put Australia back on top of the list of the fastest speeds ever achieved on water. The last time Australia held the record was when the trimaran Yellow Pages Endeavour set a time of 46.52 knots back in 1993.
The idea for Wot Rocket was conceived four years ago by 18 foot skiff champion, Rolex Sydney Hobart veteran and trailblazer Sean Langman who was inspired by the story of Burt Munro, the Kiwi who set a world land speed record on his modified Indian Scout motorcycle in 1967 at the Bonneville salt flats in Utah, USA.
Langman joined forces with leading Australian designer Andy Dovell, sought input from a number of 747 pilots for their invaluable aeronautical knowledge, had it built using the staff and facilities at his various Noakes Boat & Shipyards and finally teamed up with Wotif.com founder Graeme Wood who invested in the project because he “likes left of field ideas”.
“We are really venturing into the unknown with next week’s testing,” admitted Langman today.
Wot Rocket is half sailboat and half sailplane; a nine metre long canoe style hull with two tiny foils, each about a sixth of the size of a Moth foil and a nine metre rigid sail, then a transverse beam out to an aerodynamic twin pod crew compartment. It is built entirely from carbon fibre and weighs approximately 400 kilos.
The difference between this sailboat/sail plane and any that have come before it is that it will be attempting to break through the water speed barrier using a technology as yet untried on any sailing craft – supercavitation - to reduce the drag which is around 1,000 times greater in the water than in air.
Supercavitation will in effect mean Wot Rocket flies in a gas bubble created by the outward deflection of water by a specially shaped nose cone and the expansion of gases from its fin and foil design. By keeping water from contacting the surface of the body of Wot Rocket, this will significantly reduce drag and allow extremely high speeds.
The concept behind the Wot Rocket approach is to induce supercavitation at lower speeds where control can still be maintained and from there push through to the top speeds.
Supercavitation means Wot Rocket should only require a fraction of the 45-50 knot winds that Albeau needed to go 0.39 knots better than the previous record. A moderate 18-20 knots should do the trick believes Langman.
World Sailing Speed Record Council www.sailspeedrecords.com
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