Making progress toward record speed

With a new top speed of 51.3 knots, the SP80 boat surpassed the mythical 50-knot barrier as it aims to break the world sailing speed record before the summer of 2025. To achieve this, they must exceed the current 500-meter average speed record of 65.45 knots, set in 2012 by Paul Larsen aboard Vestas Sailrocket II.

“This run above 50 knots allowed us to finally observe the behavior of our foil in a speed range that remains largely unexplored in the world of sailing,” explains Benoît Gaudiot, pilot aboard the SP80 boat which is ten metres long, seven metres wide, and powered by a giant kite.

“We deliberately slowed the boat down just before reaching 52 knots as a precaution, but our analysis of the data indicates that it did not encounter any major barriers. This is extremely promising for the future.”

Beyond peak speeds, SP80 is intensely focused on optimizing trajectories and improving average speed – a crucial factor as the absolute sailing speed record is measured over 500 meters. Their training is in the Mediterranean Sea off of southern France.

“The boat is now close to its full technical potential,” says SP80 pilot Mayeul van den Broek. “The challenge for Benoît and I now is to sail as much as possible to master the boat’s behavior from 0 to over 70 knots. We need to fine-tune our trajectories, improve our synchronization, and push the machine even further.”

In February, SP80 achieved an average speed of 41.358 knots over 500 meters, marking recent progress in just five days of sailing since January.

“Since the boatʼs relaunch at the start of 2025, the weather has not always been favorable, with winds often too light to accumulate significant sailing hours,” noted van den Broek. “But with each outing, we can feel the logistics are running smoothly, the boat wants to go faster… all we need now is more time on the water to unleash its full potential!”

While still needing an additional 25 knots of average speed, the SP80 team is aiming for its first official record attempts by spring 2025 which are expected to take place at its usual sailing spot in Leucate, Occitanie.