New On-Water World Speed Record Attempt

In the winter of 2005, a craft that's currently in the design phase will fire up its engines on a large reservoir in eastern Washington state and try to crack 400 mph--setting a new water speed record. The boat, the American Challenge, piloted by Russ Wicks, will be unlike any other in history. A product of computer modeling and technology borrowed from the aerospace field, the revolutionary boat will be constructed by a team using the most advanced composites and working under exacting, state-of-the-art conditions. The cost is expected to ring in at about $5 million.

Halfway around the world, at Blowering Dam in Australia, another craft, completed in 1999, is expected to take up the same challenge at about the same time. This boat, the Aussie Spirit, was designed and built by one man in his backyard shed. The cost, in comparison with the American Challenge, is chump change. This effort would seem laughable when stacked up to Wicks's if it were not for one thing. Its designer, builder and driver, Ken Warby, holds the current water speed record at 317.60 mph.

It's not an entirely friendly competition: In fact, Wicks and Warby seem to take a perverse joy in throwing verbal boat anchors at each other. "A Wile E. Coyote going for a ride on a fiberglass board," says Wicks of Warby. "He's pushed the limits of what you can do without the latest technology."

Warby isn't as kind. "Wicks is known in boat racing as the media whore," he says. "He's not going to do anything. The design that he's got will kill him--if he ever builds it."

The two speedsters clash even when it comes to the best water for going fast. Wicks will be running on 7 miles of smooth, flat water surrounded by a gentle and symmetrical shoreline. A world record requires a run in both directions within an hour's time. The last thing you want, he maintains, is to have odd-shaped wakes coming at you on the return run.

Warby, in contrast, likes a rippled surface. Ripples, he says, create air pockets on the hull so it's like riding on marbles. Smooth, flat water creates added drag, which according to Warby can add up to a 30-mph penalty at 300 mph.

No matter what the water conditions, 300 miles per hour is seriously dangerous--much more so than the same speed on land, where the current record is 763 mph. Boats running at record speeds plane on a surface area the size of a teacup saucer. And that's when they're not flying totally out of the water.

Catch too much air under the bow and you flip over backward in a paroxysm of disintegration. And while you may be able to survive a land speed crash, there's no second chance on the water.

Since Warby's boat is a known quantity, Wicks's ride is the one being watched by designers around the world. It's engineered so that the impact loads pass near the craft's center of gravity. This minimizes pitching and yawing, and makes it easier to keep his ride on course.

The American Challenge will rely on computer-controlled airfoils for stability control. Gyro inputs on Challenge's attitude will be processed at 1000 times a second. This leaves Wicks with just the throttle and rudders (water and air) to contend with. As a last resort, the computer will trigger an ejection seat to launch Wicks out of harm's way. But slamming into water at 300-plus mph is like being fired out of a cannon into a brick wall.

Powering the carbon-fiber and Kevlar composite craft will be two GE J85 jet engines each producing 5000-plus pounds of thrust (about 9000-plus horsepower) with afterburner. The cockpit will be a 1-1/2-in.-thick solid carbon-fiber tub--similar to that in a Formula One car.

DIGITAL HUMAN

The cockpit is being designed using a program called Jack that was developed by UGS PLM Solutions. Jack is a biomechanically accurate virtual human that, when programmed with Wicks's body dimensions, can be seated in a virtual cockpit and used to predict reach, vision and fit requirements. Meanwhile, Wicks is wind-tunnel and water-tank testing a one-tenth scale model of his yet-to-be-built 40-ft. craft.

And Warby? We haven't heard of him doing much wind-tunnel testing lately. If the past is any indication, the master of the old school is probably doodling any last-minute design tweaks on the back of a napkin.

What surprised me about this particular record attempt is the use of computer controlled surfaces. In years past, I thought a "boat" wasn't allowed to use this technology, although unlimited hydroplanes have adapted for racing in recent years.

And you are correct Lars... this is more like an airplane, than a boat. Over the years, offshore race boats have competed in world speed record "kilo" runs, also known as the "flying mile". This new craft will define the meaning!

Anyhow, this was personally interesting, because I utilized active canards on one of the high-speed craft my group developed for the Navy a number of years ago. Just thought I would share this on the board. I wish more people would do this too... as you come across something relevant (or not in the this case) to yachting, post it for others to enjoy and learn from.

Aha! Now I see the canards you added to the bow. That's exactly what it needed!