This really has been a very strange winter in North America.

With large areas of the country having record snowfalls, storms and low temps, Montana has been unusually warm. During recent winters, the temperature at the lake normally plummets to well below zero (-10 to -25 deg C!) around November and usually stays there until late Feb, with only occasional warm days.

This winter, in contrast, has had only brief spells of very cold weather, but many warm days of significantly above zero temperatures. This, combined with pretty regular dustings of snow, has made the surface completely unusable for me this year. The Greenbird has been on standby here in California all winter, but the window just did not appear. There was a brief period of about a week in January when the local sailors reported a nice patch of ice further up the lake, at an area called ‘White Earth’. However, it is the narrowest part of the lake at under 2 miles wide, with steep hill on either side – not good for wind. I decided that the available space at White Earth was too marginal and to wait to see if the larger south lake improved. Within one week, that small nice patch had also been covered in snow.

I was all ready to head up there this weekend as it did look like it was improving, but storms in the sierras delayed the journey by a few days. Good thing too, as my friend, Dennis from Santa Cruz who did make the trip, took three days to get there through treacherous conditions, only to find it starting to snow on Canyon Ferry almost immediately after arriving. He had half a day of sailing, then headed home! Such is the uncertainty of ice sailing and this particular quest.

With only a few weeks of the season left, I have to face the reality that the conditions are probably not going to work out for me this time.

So how can I increase the chances of success? The only option is to be more mobile and start earlier. Having to tow the big trailer from California, meaning a long slow journey, certainly impacted on my judgement of when to go and were the conditions good enough to warrant the journey. I think it would have helped if the yacht was already at the lake, so I could fly in and rent a car at a moments notice. I will therefore try to deliver the yacht, in its trailer, to the lake during the summer, when the journey is easy, in preparation for next year.

I have to remember that it did take me 10 years to get the land record after my first efforts in 1999. My first ice sailing challenge was during the winter of 2001/02, so maybe the winter of 2011/02 will provide the illusive 10 year conditions required to get this one done and dusted…

Richard

I have been watching the Montana weather very closely for a month now. As expected, the ice formed on Canyon Ferry Reservoir in early December, during a very abrupt cold spell. However, unusually, the cold snap didn’t last very long and the entire surface did not freeze at the same time, leaving the northern end of the lake as open water open. (This is actually pretty normal as the north is the deeper end of the lake and the shallow water freezes first).

Since that initial freeze, the temperatures have been around zero (degrees C) during the day and 10 or 15 below at night. Although chilly, not the normal steady minus 20 deg C and not cold enough to build ice quickly. Therefore it appears that the lake has been freezing slowly, but progressively northwards, which is good.

The down side is that there have been intermittent snow showers, that seem to cover the ice as quickly as it forms, with very tempting sheets of black ice open only for a few days. That snow now needs to evaporate or blow off to reveal clean ice. A brief thaw is ideal to melt the surface before it refreezes.

So to summarize, Greenbird is ready & waiting, and as soon as I get the slightest hint that there might be record-breaking ice, I will pack up and make the 18hr journey north from California where I am living right now. I do want to wait till the ice is thick enough to be safe. Greenbird is a heavy machine in ice configuration and sailing on thin early season ice can be an uncertain feeling! After Christmas the entire lake should be frozen and all at a safe thickness. Then it is just a smooth surface that we need!

I am relying on locals for ice reports, which keep coming in on a regular basis – thanks guys, much appreciated.

Stay tuned & have a great Christmas everyone! I am looking forward to some great ice sailing and new records in the New Year!

Unfortunately, there’s been no improvement on the ice front. Dennis Bassano, the NALSA president and a friend from Santa Cruz, drove to the lake last weekend to see how it was and test his Class 3 ice yacht with some new skates. He reported back today and conditions are far from ideal. “There are clear patches between the drifts which are sailable for the small boats, but pretty brutal when you hit them. Definitely not speed record conditions”, he said.

As far as I know, there is no better ice elsewhere in the US right now, so no point in travelling at the moment either. So we have no choice but to sit tight at the base in San Francisco and continue to wait for things to improve.

Unfortunately nothing new to report. The lake had a little more snow last week and it is also suffering (unusually) from pressure ridges. As the ice expands and contracts, it cracks and can leave either open water or protruding ice – both potentially very dangerous for ice boats. One of the reasons we chose Canyon Ferry was its history of large open areas without pressure ridges, but this year is a little different with some new, and difficult, ridges. This could be explained by the reservoir being unusually full, or just the water level management by the hydro electric dam at the end of the lake, I’m not sure.

However, the result is a considerably smaller sailing area than we normally have and a rough surface with many drifts. John Cassidy, a fellow iceboater who lives in Helena and took a flight over the lake last week, took some pictures. As you can see, if the drifts look significant from 2000+ ft, they are very big when standing on the ice!

Many thanks to John, Dale, Lance, Dave and all the other local Montana ice sailors who are keeping me up-to-date as conditions change. Somehow, I now seem to have a job and a 5 month-old baby, so can no longer spend extended periods of time sitting by the lake drinking beer, waiting for the conditions to improve!

We will remain on standby for the entire ice season, ready to take advantage of any good ice as it appears. As always, all ice reports always gratefully received.

Despite being more technically prepared than ever, ahead of the ice season, the weather has just not cooperated this freeze.

After the snow and rough ice of last year, I had counted on the smooth ice of the first freeze to give us the best chance of high speeds. By the first freeze, I mean the time between when the ice gets thick enough to sail on (6 inches) and when it snows.

However, it froze last week during an arctic storm, meaning that some parts of the lake are very rough. A few days later, it snowed, effectively putting a stop to the season before it had even started. To add to the problems, a few pressure ridges have now also formed that are very difficult to cross and divide the sailing area into smaller sections. All this means that Canyon ferry is probably out of service for the immediate future, but may well get better again later in the year as the air temperature warms up during the days and can smooth the surface back to perfection.

If the surface never recovers, there are other lakes further east, forming part of the great lake region of America, that will become sailable in Jan and Feb.

We will just have to sit and watch for the time being, waiting for an opportunity to arise. Any ice reports from sailors across the country are gratefully received.

Well, it is getting chilly here in San Francisco so it must be getting towards that time of year, the Ice!

I have been working out here during the summer on a radical sailing project, not speed record stuff, but great fun with huge potential…. more on that later. My thoughts are now on the ice record and getting the Greenbird ice yacht up together to take on this season’s ice.

Last year the rough ice (@ 70 mph) took its toll and there are a few bearings, etc that need replacing. I am therefore going to fly to the craft (sitting in its box near the lake) and drive it back from Montana (18 hr drive) this weekend and work on it for a while in our nice hanger in San Francisco. There are a few modifications I would like to do, so when the ice forms in Mid December, I will be ready and only a couple of days drive away from being set up.

So what modifications? Well, there are a number of things I would like to do including a nose job, a modified rig and parachute deployment system. (more…)

We’re setting up The Greenbird in its new UK home at the EcoTech Centre – Turbine Way, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7HT. Greenbird will be on display here now permanently, unless it’s off breaking even more records!

EcoTech Centre is also home to one of our special turbines – the UK’s first megawatt class windmill. When we built this in 1999, your average windmill in the UK stood about 30m tall. This one was more than twice that height and three times the capacity. It paved the way for the next generation of windmills.

It’s also special because we installed a unique viewing platform, which enabled planners and members of the public alike to climb to the top and experience wind energy from the heart of the machine not just looking up from the ground. Tens of thousands of people have made the journey to the top, and a few brave souls have jumped off… abseiling for charity.

So lots to see and experience! Please come on by and say hi…

Yesterday, I collected the Greenbird from the shippers yard in Southampton after it’s long journey home. Built in Thailand, tested in Australia and America and now home in England, it is a well travelled machine.

Safely back in one piece, the Greenbird will now have its first opportunity to be seen by the British public at the Science Museum next week in London. I will be there from Tuesday 4th to Thursday 6th (11am -1pm & 2pm – 4pm each day), so I would be delighted to talk you though it in more detail if you were able to make the journey to see it in person.

Following this, it heads to the Ecotech centre at Swaffham, Norfolk and will be in display from Monday 10th onwards.

My next mission is the ice record challenge this winter in Montana, USA. First freeze is usually around early December so this time I will be there ahead of schedule, ready and waiting!

IT’S OFFICIAL! The new world record has been ratified by NALSA (North American Land Sailing Association). After detailed analysis of the data, the final figure turns out to be 126.2 mph.

Many Many thanks to Bob Dill, the Nalsa secretary and GPS guru who has painstakingly analysed the accuracy of various GPS units and overseen the speed measurement of all my efforts over the years. Bob designed and built the Iron duck (previous record holder), but has been tremendously helpful to me throughout the project. He has hung out with me for weeks at a time at the various locations around the world including Australia (exactly the opposite side of the world from his home in Vermont), at his own expense, to oversee the attempts as an official observer. As it turns out, we managed to do it in front of the whole Nalsa Committee, but if the weather had played it’s hand in one of the remote locations, Bob was there on standby to be the official witness. Thanks for all your support and company over the years, Bob.

Here is the official Statement of ratification as well as the supporting documents submitted to the Nalsa Committee; The measurement report (PDF, 784kb) and the GPS data (Excel, 81kb) from the fastest run.

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Dear NALSA,

The NALSA Board of Directors has ratified a new world record for speed in a landyacht of 126.2 mph by Richard Jenkins in Greenbird on March 26, 2009 at 11:04 PDT on Ivanpah Dry Lake California.
The wind at the time ranged between 30 and 40 mph with occasional higher gusts. As required by the NALSA Regulations for Speed Record Attempts, the top speed was measured over three seconds during which the yacht traversed about 560 feet. Speed measurement was made by a total of five logging GPSs which agreed within 0.1 mph and which all have a demonstrated accuracy (U at 95%) of 0.2 mph (well under the NALSA requirement of 0.5 mph). Additional information can be found at NALSA.org.

Bob Dill
NALSA Secretary

Well I arrived back in England yesterday after an excellent trip back. A great mate from University who is a pilot and now flies for BA apparently managed to find out what plane I was on and get a message to the flight crew. They not only found an empty business class seat for me, but announced to the whole plane the new British held world record. A great honour and hugely appreciated so many many thanks to BA and the whole crew who treated me like royalty and looked after me superbly.

The Greenbird is now in San Francisco awaiting transport back to the UK. Really sorry I could not stay another week at Ivanpah for the Kite buggy Expo. The kiters are a great bunch who have been incredibly helpful in the past and I have made some great friends there, so sorry to miss you this trip.

I have now had some time to digest the record day and the craft performance. I cannot tell you how satisfying it is, from a technical perspective, that it worked exactly as planned. No wear, no breakages and total control at all times. Once I had got to grips with the sensitivity of the sail control, I was able to ‘fly’ the outrigger pod consistently above the ground, which is the perfect situation for least drag, with only two wheels touching the ground. The gusty wind made it slightly more tricky, but even when it looks like the wheel is touching, it really is only just touching, so very little rolling drag.

The biggest problem on the day was the blowing dust, which made visibility very poor. After setting off for the first time, I was completely blind and had to stop for about 30 minutes until visibility improved. The dust also likes to stick to the windscreen, which makes the situation worse, I think you can get a good idea of this from the onboard camera. At times visibility was down to 40 feet, so I waited and once I could see the silhouette of the hills once more, I set off. The first run was a test to see how much room I had with this unusual wind direction. All went well so I turned around and made my way back to the top of the course. This time I gave it full throttle and ‘went with it’. As the craft became overpowered, rather than de-power, I bore away, sailing more downwind. Looking down at the Driftbox GPS, it was reading 126, seemingly for some time. Bailing out of the run and trying to avoid the various obstacles on the lake, I stopped by the camera crew for verification. It all happened too easily and quickly in the end.

Parallel to the road is a pipeline to Vegas, which has various (solid) obstacles along it. These would be fatal if hit at speed so I was pretty careful to try and bail out of the runs into a clear area, but being so low to the ground and in so much dust it was hard to see where the edge of the lake and these obstacles were. Looking at the GPS track now, I am amazed to see how much space we did have left and just how short the record run was. The whole run was completed in about 1.5 miles. Which is pretty amazing acceleration. If I had an in-cockpit position display I probably could have used another 0.5 miles. Here is the GPS track and the acceleration curve:

GPS Track

Acceleration Curve

It clearly shows that there is a little more potential left in the yacht and a figure of 130 mph is probably achievable with a little more time and room.

So should I have pushed harder on the day? Possibly, but the design speed of this vehicle was 125 mph. This is not to say it won’t go faster, but the structure was not yet load tested for speeds above this and the safety factors were definitely small, so to push it much harder, I would like to do more static tests first. Also, now that we know our predictions were spot on for 125, we can certainly make modifications to tune the aerodynamics for 135 mph and have another crack at it.

So the vehicle and me are still in one piece and ready to fight the next fight. It could have easily been very different had I ventured into unknown territory and pushed it beyond the limit, but i guess we will never know! Such is the fine line of record setting and I am very pleased to be on the right side of that line for now. I may have taken a different view 6 years ago, but after many crashes, I guess that is what experience does for you!

Regarding the wind record, I have to say I screwed up here. In all the commotion after the record I did not download the wind data until a few days later. I had not fully realised the memory capacity of the unit when set to maximum data detail, which is only a couple of days. This meant the data from record day morning had already been over-written. All I can say is that it was windy! Averaging 30-35 mph with higher gusts. I guess we will never know exactly what it was during the record run, other than to say it was enough! The speed multiples are normally pretty reliable, and we can consistently do 3.8-4.1 times the wind speed on dirt, so an average windspeed somewhere between 30 and 35 mph is probably a pretty reasonable guess.

Here is the course for the entire days sailing:

All day course GPS track