WATER SPEED RECORDS

SOLAR ELECTRIC POWERED WATER SPEED RECORD BOOKS

 

 

 

TU Delft proposed design for a solar powered cross channel record boat

 

CLIMATE CHANGERS - Guinness World Records recognize water speed records for vehicles powered only by solar panels. The cross-channel attempt will go down in the history books if it is successful and beats the current record.

 

 

 

The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. In the outright category, jets rule supreme. On this page we are concerned with electric and solar powered boats.

 

The records on this page are to do with cutting edge renewable energy projects involving first battery electric boats and more recently, solar powered boats, that like the cars in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia, could become commercially successful at some point in the future, such as to make a stand against climate change, otherwise known as global warming.

 

 

 

BATTERY ELECTRIC

 

MPH

Craft

Motor(s)

Pilot(s)

Location

Date

--

--

--

--

--

--

50.83

An Stradag (spark)

Lynch 48v

Countess Fiona Arran

UK

1989

55.91

DeSilva runabout

Prestolite 144v

Norman Boddy

U.S.A.

1994

68.09

An Stradag

Agni 48v

Helen Loney

UK

2005

76.80

Ringwood

Agni 60v

Helen Loney

UK

2008

98.80

72v runabout

Prestolite  72v

Michael Bontoft

USA

2008

   99.00

Top Gun

Mercedes electric

AMG

Offshore

2013

 

 

SOLAR POWERED

 

 

MPH

Craft

Motor(s)

Pilot(s)

Location

Date

-

-

-

-

-

-

   3.45

PlanetSolar

140kW total

Raphael Domjan

Circumnavigation

4 May 2012

   -

TU Delft

Solar

Solar hydrofoil

Cross Channel

August 2019

 

 

 

 

 

RESUMPTION OF JET BOAT RECORD BREAKING

 

Jet powered boat record breaking ceased from about 2008, then came back to life with Dave Warby and Spirit of Australia 2. Read more about the outright water speed record HERE.

 

 

AMG Mercedes electrically powered offshore cigarette boat

 

AMG - At speed offshore testing, this Mercedes deep V powerboat is undeniably fast. 86 knots on batteries and electric motors. Not that fast in reality compared to other powerboats, but then this is offshore.

 

 

 

Donald Campbell in his K7 jet engine powered Bluebird hydroplane boat

 

K7 JET BOAT - Once of the greats who inspired the next generations of engineers to flex their brains and get out the welding gear. Donald Campbell was told by his father Sir Malcolm Campbell, "you'll never be as famous as me." So determined was Sir Malcolm to prevent his son from becoming a record breaker, that on his death and according to his will, all the record cars and boats were auctioned off to put them our of Donald's reach. Undeterred, the younger Campbell bought back the K4, that would set him on a path to water and land speed records to for outpace his father's efforts. Not in any way to detract from the magnificent achievements of his dad, but just to show that if you throw down the gauntlet, that in favorable circumstances and with the right team of engineers - great things can happen.

 

 

LEG

NAUTICAL MILES

TIME IN PORT

WAYPOINT

SUNSHINE DAYS

-

-

-

-

-

START

-

-

Monaco

0.00

1

784

2

Gibraltar

4.67

2

729

2

Tenerife, Canary Islands

4.34

3

3,154

2

Trinidad, Port of Spain

18.77

4

1,182

2

Panama City

7.04

5

970

2

Galapagos

5.77

6

3,640

2

Tahiti

21.67

7

1,423

2

Tonga, Nukualofa

8.47

8

410

2

Fiji, Suva

2.44

9

1,886

2

Port Moresby PNG

11.23

10

340

2

Thursday Island, Cape York

2.02

11

724

2

Darwin

4.31

12

1,572

2

Jakarta, Indonesia

9.36

13

1,881

2

Colombo, Sri Lanka

11.20

14

2,109

2

Aden, Yemen

12.55

15

698

2

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

4.15

16

670

2

Port Said, Egypt

3.99

17

1,111

2

Palermo, Sicily

6.61

18

170

2

Naples, Italy

1.01

19

393

FINISH

Monaco

2.34

-

-

-

-

-

-

23,846

36

RUNTIME DAYS @ 7kts

141.94

-

-

-

-

-

+ 10% service

= 156.13 Days

-

7 KNOTS AVE INC PORT & %

192.13

-& maintenance

-

-

AT 6 KNOTS AVE

224.16

 -

-

-

AT 5 KNOTS AVE

268.99

 

SOLAR CIRCUMNAVIGATION SPEED RECORD The above table illustrates one of the most likely ocean awareness expedition routes showing the time elapsed in days for 7 knots average cruising speed, including times for 5 and 6 knot averages - allowing for 10% downtime and 36 days in ports.

 

Unlike most water speed record attempts, this is more concerned with endurance over long distances with relatively slow velocities. Apart from nuclear power, the only way to power a vessel over 24,000 nautical miles and more is using renewable energy sources. Hence, although the objective is to reduce the current solar powered circumnavigation water speed record from 584 days and 3mph average, the event in not an outright non-stop yacht competition in the offshore racing sense. It remains to be seen how accurate such a prediction might be.

 

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_speed_record

 

 

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