Vestas Sailrocket


The Vestas Sailrocket was built to capture the sailing speed record competing in the B-class for 150 to 235 square feet of sail. It is piloted by the project leader Paul Larsen and sponsored by Danish wind turbines manufacturer Vestas. In 2008 the first version reached a reported unofficial speed of, before crashing.
After being upgraded to a second version, the Vestas Sailrocket 2 began a campaign to break speed records in November 2012 off Walvis Bay, Namibia. On 12 November, it made a run over a distance, then on the 16th. It attained on a one-mile run on the 18th and simultaneously on 500m. On 24 November, with wind speeds at roughly, it ran the 500m course at with a peak. Both records are ratified by the WSSRC for the 500m and the mile.
A Swiss team of EPFL students and engineers, including members involved in the development of previous record-holder Hydroptère, formed in October 2019 to develop a new hydrofoil boat, SP80, to exceed the Vestas Sailrocket 2 record in 2022, with a target speed of 80 knots.