New 24 hour record...!!

[Sybarite]

Franck Cammas in Groupama 3, a 105' foil equipped catamaran, did 784.4 nm, an average of 32.68 knts.

He is still on schedule to break the crewed Tranasatlantic record despite damage to the foil.

John

 

[Woodlouse]

Not bad. Looks like there's going to be a new transatlanic record in a couple of days.

 

[CPD]

The bigger they are the faster they go. Is there an upper limit at which this simplistic theory (fact !) doesnt apply anymore ?

 

[Woodlouse]

When they're on foils. Or a VX40. Both are faster boats but without the same endurance. All it takes are the right conditions and crossing the Atlantic in early summer seems to offer those.

 

[Sybarite]

Yes - in racing boats you can't use powered winches so at around 105' long the dimensions are getting to the limit that muscle power can handle.

John

 

[DaveS]

I really hesitate to intervene in a discussion that is really well out of my league, but surely application of ever lower gearing can allow ever larger sails to be deployed for any size of crew? OK, the downside is slower setting, but is the odd minute that important when legs of 100s of miles are involved?

[Edit - I used a misplaced apostrophe! Oh me, sackcloth and ashes is too good...]

 

[Danny Jo]

[ QUOTE ]
in racing boats you can't use powered winches so at around 105' long the dimensions are getting to the limit that muscle power can handle.

[/ QUOTE ] I'm not sure the Cutty Sark had powered winches. Her she was just over 212 feet overall. And Sydney to English Channel in 67 days surely puts her in the racing boat league.

 

[akirk]

[ QUOTE ]
The bigger they are the faster they go. Is there an upper limit at which this simplistic theory (fact !) doesnt apply anymore ?

[/ QUOTE ]

no, make it the length of the crossing, minus an inch, and it will take only seconds to get there.

make it an inch long and it will never get there...

therefore you have a scale from infinitely big time to get there (never) to nearly infinitely small time to get there...

build your boat somewhere inbetween the two, and the time taken should be on that scale /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif