Boating and Sailing News 06 Oct 2009
Sailrocket Boat Crash

Namibia - Formerly the fastest sailboat in the world, SailRocket is making her final attempts at the outright speed sailing record this month, trying to steal the title from the big hydrofoil sailboat l’Hydroptere. One of these attempts ended in a dramatic boat crash today, catapulting the little boat and her skipper into the air in a stunning flip, while the support team watched in horror from the sidelines.

This isn't the first time the SailRocket has crashed dramatically (see video below), and although the SailRocket team had an amazing season last year, they have also dealt with many set-backs. After this remarkable boat reached 47.36 knots to become the fastest sailboat over 500 meters, the team had to deal with the repercussions of the major crashes that sometime result from riding the razor's edge - one of which put the boat's skipper Paul Larsen in the hospital.

After all the hard work, the team were absolutely supportive earlier this year (but must have been at least a bit disappointed) when Simon McKeon on Macquarie Innovation announced that he had snatched the sailing record from SailRocket with a speed of 50.07 knots. Macquarie Innovations's title was short lived however, as the much larger boat Hydroptere recently blasted the record to become not only the fastest sailboat in the world over 500 meters and one mile, but the fastest watercraft of any kind under sail, beating kiteboarder Alexandre Caizergues's world record of 50.57 knots. So, when the SailRocket team returned to Namibia, saying it would be for the boat's last record runs, they were itching to grab that outright speed sailing record for themselves, and they expected to be skirting the edge of disaster.

As Paul prepared SailRocket for the sailing record attempts this week, he had a premonition, saying: "There’s a final chapter to be written and I’m sure she still has a few knots up her sleeve. It will be one hell of a ‘suck-it-and-see’ ride on the ragged edge that’s for sure!" Paul says that "nothing focuses the mind like competition." It takes total concentration - to say nothing of an apperant lack of regard for his own personal safety - for Paul to attempt to exceed the required speed of 51.38 knots on this spartan and necessarily flimsy boat.

Today Paul took the SailRocket out on the course for that 'suck-it-and-see' ride. In winds gusting to 25 knots, the boat took off like a... well, a Sail Rocket, and quickly reached the incredible speed of 53 knots. Near the end of the run, however, something went terribly wrong, and the little boat flipped into the air in yet another spectacular crash. We know this gutsy Australian always gives it all he's got, and Paul has easily proven his calm under pressure, as he was even able to keep his cool even during those dramatic crashes last season. As Paul says, "sometimes the limits are as much psychological as they are physical." In this case, it was clearly a case of physical limits, as Paul certainly has the "right stuff."

Paul survived the crash unharmed, but the boat was not so lucky. The team is now picking up the SailRocket pieces, and assessing the damage to their beloved craft. On first inspection it looks like the hull and the beam are in decent shape, but the flaps are definitely damaged. The team promised to keep us posted on the condition of the boat, and we are all now crossing our fingers that the SailRocket will not end her days until she is able to make another record run on Walvis Bay.

- Kim Hampton exclusively for YachtPals.com