SP80 reaches a New Milestone in pursuit of the World Sailing Speed Record

The Swiss team chasing the world sailing speed record has achieved a new milestone. Training since late 2023 in Leucate (South of France), the team recorded a new top speed of 40+ knots (74 km/h) with its kite-powered boat this summer. Although there is no official record for this type of sailboat (i.e., a ‘kiteboat’), SP80 is now the fastest kiteboat in the world. Next step: getting closer to the absolute world sailing speed record by the end of the year for an official attempt in 2025.
 
After an initial logistical fine-tuning campaign this winter and several months in the shipyard, the team relaunched its boat in mid-June with the goal of achieving its first high-speed runs by the end of the summer. Mission accomplished: the pilots are now performing runs at an average speed of around 30 knots (55 km/h), with a peak recorded at 40.652 knots (74 km/h) and an average of 35.280 knots over 500 meters, the official distance for a world record run.

Although the world record held by Vestas Sailrocket II remains distant (65.45 knots, or 121 km/h, average speed over 500 meters), this campaign has allowed the team to gather valuable data and better understand the boat's behavior at high speeds. This information is crucial for finalizing the design of the record-breaking foil: currently, SP80 is using a training foil designed to withstand a maximum speed of around 45 knots.

"The foil is key to breaking the record" - explains Benoît Gaudiot, COO and SP80 kite pilot. “We wanted to quickly test a simplified version on the water and learn as much as possible before finalizing the design of the record foil, which is more complex and costly to produce.  Now that we have data from the boat at high speeds, we can refine our simulations and launch the production of the final foil with much more information than we had a few months ago!”

Thanks to the lessons learned this summer, the boat will return to the shipyard in September to improve safety systems around the pilots and integrate the new foil. The initial goal is to break the 55-knot barrier (100 km/h) between October and December.

"This is a crucial  step for us", emphasizes Xavier Lepercq, CTO of SP80. "In the world of sailing, the fastest boats are all confronted with a physical underwater phenomenon: cavitation. This is comparable to the sound barrier in aviation. To exceed 60 knots, we need foil shapes that are very different from what we can see today in the America’s Cup and in the sailing world; the constraints are not the same. If our boat can overcome this barrier, we can not only rival Vestas Sailrocket II but surpass it."

The team aims to make an first official record attempt before the summer of 2025.

"The results from the past few months are very positive for the team," concludes Mayeul van den Broek, CEO and pilot of the SP80 boat. "We have learned a lot and are convinced that the boat can go much faster: we had to slow it down to avoid exceeding the limit of our training foil! The goal over the past few months was to make safe runs, to train in controlled conditions, and to build confidence in our boat—this has been accomplished. Now, we’re looking to gradually approach the speeds of Paul Larsen, the current record holder. Of course, we depend heavily on the weather conditions… we hope the Tramontane wind will be with us this winter!