PDRacer Sailboat - Measuring Tacking Angle

Speed over Distance Record
by Tim Cleary
9-24-06 record: 3.0 mph over 5.11 miles

The wind was variable but did build over the first hour and a half of the voyage. I never had a long, sustained breeze, just some good gusts that never lasted over a minute, then would drop off, then come again after a few minutes. For the first half mile I averaged 2.8 mph, then for the next 3 miles I got the average up to 4.5 mph, that's when I got the peak speed of 5.9 mph. Then, Arrghh!, the time between gusts became longer and longer, and my average dropped to 3.6 mph at 4 1/2 miles.

I just needed 10 more minutes of wind to at least hold that average, but the wind dropped to a steady 5 mph and by the time I made it to a distance over 5 miles, my average was down to 3.0 mph. At least I had a 5 mph wind to get back to the Lake Robinson ramp, where I took a picture of the GPS.

That's the risk of trying speed over a long distance, you just never know when there'll be a period of no wind that will demolish your overall average.

The extremely variable wind made the 5 mile PDR voyage very tiring. I had to constantly shift position, from hanging over the stern corner to leaning over amidships. So at about mile 4 I was wishing I was on a 3-masted schooner, where I could sit and stay in one place for a while. At least long enough to finish my soda.

Tim C.

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