Rappey
Well-known member
Fascinating article about how she was abandoned in hawaii but is now being restored and may go a lot faster than 52 knts.
Saving Hydroptere
Saving Hydroptere
Short answer is that a low budget campaign had a shot at the California to Hawaii record, failed and ran out of money so just walked away.Why was she abandoned?
That makes sense but I still had a good look around google.Hydroptere isn't ever going to beat them on distance races,
Ocean racing records aren't about top speeds though, they're about averages and I don' think Hydroptere will match the likes of Gitana for high averages. Seems much less able to deal with sea state. Probably she'll go on to break a load of records on the west coast of the USA, where the French don't really go record hunting, but the big ones - Atlantic, RTW and 24 hours I don't think would be within her reach any more.That makes sense but I still had a good look around google.
Various varying figures online but from what I found banque Populaire V top speed achieved was 47.15 knts.
Hydroptere achieved 52.86 official but has hit 61knts (then capsized) .
With the new owners ambitions of modern foils ,aero dynamics and ground effect the boat may have the potential for a record breaking future.