Team NZ ready to launch world record speed bid
Pilot Glenn Ashby thrilled with what he has been handed for a 203kph assignment. Duncan Johnstone reports.
Team New Zealand are close to launching their radical land yacht ahead of the attempt on the wind-powered land speed world record.
‘‘Pilot’’ Glenn Ashby arrived from Australia last week and the land yacht has been methodically assembled on the back of more cutting edge design and build work from the America’s Cup holders.
They plan to christen and launch the 10m craft on May 16 and then go into a stringent testing phase at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in Whenuapai.
Initial testing will focus on steering and braking before the wingsail is attached and loads are increased.
Team New Zealand need to beat the 202.9kph set by Britain’s Richard Green in the United States in 2009 after he dedicated 10 years to achieving the record.
The attempt will be made on the salt surface of Lake Gairdner in South Australia in August.
Ashby has been the main motivator behind ‘‘Project Speed’’, conveniently timed for a down period in the America’s Cup cycle that resumes in Barcelona in 2024.
After viewing concepts for the past few months, speed freak Ashby is delighted with what he has been handed for this thrillseeking assignment.
‘‘It’s absolutely awesome to get back here and touch it and feel it, sit in it,’’ Ashby said.
Stuck in Victoria during the Covid restrictions, Ashby initially practised his reclined piloting position using a bean bag before making a wooden replica.
He’s now got a feel
‘‘It’s like wow . . . it’s exactly like I envisaged. So it’s super cool to actually sit in the cockpit and work out the vision and angles.’’ Glenn Ashby
for the sophisticated real thing. ‘‘It’s like wow . . . it’s exactly like I envisaged. So it’s super cool to actually sit in the cockpit and work out the vision and angles,’’ Ashby said.
‘‘It sends the hairs on the back of your neck on end . . . it’s actually real, it’s happening. ‘‘The guys who have been involved in the project are absolutely loving it and for them to see my excitement and enthusiasm, they are probably having a bit of a giggle. But everyone is into it, the whole project has got a really good vibe in the team.’’
The serious testing will be done across the Tasman.
‘‘We won’t get to within 100kph of what we want to do in Australia, but what we will be able to do here is validate all the structural components and the set-up,’’ Ashby explained.
‘‘That should allow us to do some pretty hot runs as soon as we get over there.’’
Ashby has been keeping an eye on conditions at Lake Gairdner, which was hit hard by unseasonal rain, with 600ml falling in January and a need for it to dry and produce ideal surface conditions.
‘‘Mother Nature has thrown us a few curve balls. It’s still a bit of a concern of mine as to how quickly it will dry out. But the trajectory is going in the right direction.’’
Team New Zealand are completing the logistics of the trip to their temporary container base at the 4351 sq km lake, which is 440km northwest of
Adelaide.