Hi all,

Yesterday turned into a great day for our full dress-rehearsal for what is to come. We equipped VESTAS SAILROCKET in close enough to full speed mode. The only thing really missing was the new MARLOW rigging which still hasn't arrived... oh and the onboard camera.

It looks like the inland rains have finally eased enough to allow the windy Walvis Bay we know and love to return. It only takes a day or two here for it to go from 'It's never going to blow'... to 'It's never going to stop blowing'.

It was only predicted to reach 15 knots yesterday and it seemed that it was only going to struggle up to that at best. We got the boat fully prepped as I wanted to do a full dress rehearsal on the course to make sure that the TRIMBLE GPS was working as it should from its position on the boat... and to get all the team familiar with the new procedures associated with all the new 'add-ons' and 'take-offs'. The wind was building nicely as we made for the water. Helena took WSSRC commissioner Mike Ellison over to 'speed-spot' so he could take some tide measurements. It was going to be good for him to get an idea of exactly where we are sailing and where the fast bits of the run might be. Mike has seen them all. He has been commissioner for Yellow Pages, Long-shot, Hydroptere, the windsurfers in the trench and recently the first 50 knot sailors on kiteboards earlier this year. There isn't much that Mike doesn't know about speed sailing and it's a pleasure to have him here to watch over us.

Helena was going to be off RIB driving duties and in charge of still photography and manning the new 'live-update' section on the website. from where she sits in the timing hut half way down the course she can see and hear (via VHF) everything that goes on during a run. Directly after the run I can relay my top speed and best 20 second average as this should give a good idea of my 500 meter run. The beauty of VESTAS SAILROCKET is that it tracks incredibly straight even when hit by substantial gusts. This means that typically my peaks... and GPS 500 m results... should be relatively close to the final projected (500m point to point) results.

It was with great joy that we crossed the lagoon with VESTAS SAILROCKET on this fine day. It was a couple of days and one year ago that we battled our way over here and pulled off that amazing run 24... our first 40 knot run. That was the run that turned the project around. It was that run that meant this day could be. That was a special day, the equal of any to come. Although we were just crossing the lagoon with our boat as we had so many times before, I felt a new sense of arrival. Up ahead in the distance the WSSRC commissioner was walking up the remote beach after taking tide measurements, in a new little clear canopy on the bow of VESTAS SAILROCKET sat a complex GPS timing system and beside me in the support RIB were the well practiced team. Helena who has been through it all with me, George who has worked like a champ and been a real strength over the past three months... he even gave up the 'kings cup' to stay for this. Brad, a great mate of mine from years back who came out with us originally... and had to come back to watch us make the final push, Hiskia, a true Namibian from Ruundu in the north. We grabbed Hiskia from a £1.60 per day ATM security job 22 months ago and he has been with us for every run ever since... and new for today was Les. Formally a Swakopmund local whom we know from the Yacht club, he has moved to Walvis... like today... so we grabbed him to help with the launching seeing Helena was going to have her hands full.

We dropped Helena off at the timing hut to begin the live-feed whilst the rest of us made for the top of the course. We started right at the top today to make the most of every meter. The wind was looking lovely and far exceeding our expectations. We were getting gusts over 20 knots which made it perfect for a good shakedown. It took quite a while to 'clean the bird'  but we will quickly get faster. VESTAS SAILROCKET looked brilliant and I was itching to sail her. The team departed to leave Les and I up the top of the course. Les was struggling a bit to hold the boat as she surged around. Height and mass is an advantage when holding this boat and whilst Les has all the strength, he's not a big guy. The boat can be pretty intimidating the first time and sometimes I forget this. We were standing out a little deeper to make sure that the main foil wasn't scratching on the bottom so this wasn't helping.

Les managed to get me off safely and we were off for our first run of the attempt. the wind was good... but not brilliant. I estimated around an 18-18.5 knot average. This means gusts over 20 and lulls to 16. I made an early turn onto the course so as to get in flat water. VESTAS SAILROCKET picked up nicely and we were off. She quickly accelerated up to 40 knots and everything felt fine. I started with the wing at 15 degrees and pulled the main flap in to match. I then pulled the wing into around 12-13 degrees and once again, the flap came in to match. The steering was nice and light, very gentle and progresive. The new control system was working brilliantly. This was the breakthrough design of the project. It was an effortless run and everything worked great. We peaked at around 42.8 knots and averaged an easy 40.8. The wind was 17-19 knots throughout the run.

It was great to know that the 'live-feed' was going out and that other members of the team, friends, family and supporters from all over the world could be with us on this isolated beach in Africa. We will aim to improve on this. Who knows... maybe even live audio direct off the boat!

We only needed to do one run to test the systems so we took the whole show back to the Yacht Club.

No records today but that wasn't the point... that's for tomorrow. The forecast for the next three days is looking pretty epic. I think we are going to start filling the record swag in the next few days. Mike seemed impressed how easily we doubled wind speed. Realistically, todays run was still near on 10 knots off the outright record but that isn't a big concern. We're in great fighting shape and giving it our absolute best shot. It's a real pleasure to be here now.

Cheers, Paul.

Follow the link below for live updates from Walvis Bay. Vestas Sailrocket is on top of the course just setting the anchor to do a first WSSRC run.

www.sailrocket.com/livefeed.php

We have had some 'out of character' weather here in Walvis bay which has resulted in very light winds. We've even had rain! Of course there is nothing we can do about it so we just figure that each day allows us another one of preperation. I spent another day on the foil package working down through the different grades of sandpaper. I filled and faired all the planing surfaces and sharpened their trailling edges. I can only assume that it helps.

We have set up a base station over at the speed-hut and will endeavour to send a live feed off the course on big days. You should be able to get feedback almost direct off the boat as I go down the course. Helena will be doing this from the timing hut using a generator, laptop and 3G modem... as well as taking photo's... and sorting through GPS data between runs as we tow VESTAS SAILROCKET back up the course.

At this stage it is looking like the weekend is going to be windy... but that depends on the rain in land. I have faith in this spot. It does this. It sometimes feels like it is never going to be windy again... and then it comes... and feels like it is never going to stop. This is why we have to appreciate the windless days. Preperation time is a bonus.

Cheers, Paul.

Hi all, well there hasn't been any wind to speak of for the first few days of our 28 day world record attempt. We have been using the time to keep refining VESTAS SAILROCKET on all fronts. The TRIMBLE GPS system has been checked to the accuracies recquired by the WSSRC and has been housed in a lightweight box in the centreboard case of the boat. I want to keep the weight forward.

I am going round and round the boat making her lighter and more aerodynamically slippery with every lap. We did a complete rig up with all systems in place yesterday. She weighed in at exactly 205.3 kg with everything on. I'm getting closer to 80 kg and still want to get to around 78.

Here's a video walk around http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVIJjSAtJK0

Yesterday we recieved what I think is one of the coolest things this project has ever had.

Last week one of our local friends commented about my bright orange helmet. Frank told me it 'Just wasn't cool'! I sort of had to agree and jumped on the opportunity to make Frank do something about it. Frank is a perfectionist who amongst many other things... builds remote control jets and competes to the highest level with them... so he's pretty handy when it comes to fine detailing. I set to with streamlining the helmet. As the wind is not coming from straight ahead, I had to angle the fairing around 23 degrees off to one side (The apparent wind will come from around 26 degrees a little higher up... so I allowed some for the fact I am lower down). I made a cone shape out of some thin carbon fibre and attached it to the back. At first it looked a bit ridiculous but after some careful shaping it started to look OK. I had some ideas of where some logos should be placed and then handed it over to Frank for him to freestyle the rest. The fact that he had it for a few days was a good thing as it meant that he was doing a 'monty' on it.

Yesterday he brought it back. I personally think it is one of the coolest custom helmets I have ever seen.

He airbrushed in all these wonderful little details which included the Southern Cross on the front and the skyline of the Great Dividing Range as seen from the hill I grew up on in Healesville, Victoria, Australia. It was on a little pond/dam there that I first began experimenting on little boats with no rules or restriction. There is also the serial number K5054 on there. This was the number of the first little blue prototype Spitfire. VESTAS SAILROCKET shares a very similar trademark elliptical wing and was built a couple of hundred meters from the Supermarine factory in Woolston, Southampton, UK from where this beautiful craft originated. I've always loved the elegance of the Spitfire and hence I thought this was a lovely touch. Hopefully the number we will read on the Trimble at the end of this will be four tenths higher i.e. 50.48... as this will give us the world record.

So anyway, I'm pretty happy about it. Thanks Frank.

Well the wind isn't playing ball at the moment... but it will. at the moment there are no good winds forecast until the weekend. one thing is for sure and that is that we will have to make every day count. I can't wait.

Cheers, Paul