Ecotricity Greenbird smashes the world record

[THISLOVETHISHATE99]

such a waste of money

[josephdupont]

how fast was the wind blowing...

[Sagempurple]

around 30mph

[flyingfishsurf]

with only one running board, i'm assuming the greenbird gets towed back to start each new run. is the lower portion of the wind absolutely fixed or can it be trimmed like the head of the wing? if the entire wing cannot luff, how is the upwind tow accomplished? do they have to attach another running board?

[SeanFidler]

No, it actually is an inverted airfoil so the lift component is DOWN. This provides (per engineering) downforce equal to the sideforce of the wing sail. So the windward wheel (fast when sailing with the running board to windward!!!!!!) is just kissing the ground at speed. Almost ZERO drag. Basically genius! I was there for this, so I learned alot. Cool huh?

[wildblue2]

I'm guessing wheel traction is the limiting factor for land sailing. Is the wing on the trailing edge the only sheeting mechanism?

[Yeliogan]

have to make a wind powered machine for school science so gonna make a model of this

[TrickyEmu]

many people don't know that the Sahara consists of only 10% sand desert. The rest is rocky and flat or just flat. I can imagine that people there could use them. Of course a modified version. But in 2050, this could be a day-today vehicle. Australians could use that too.

[dontno27]

I was out sailing on the other side of the lake the November before this happened and I went across and met Richard and took a good look at the boat! Congrats you guys!

[Globalpack]

Very impressive accomplishment right there.

[ollygc]

rich jenkins is my neighbours son

[113MPG]

Id didnt go faster because it was going sideways a bit. On the water its called Leeway or side slipping. If this was a boat with hydrofoils it wouldnt have gone sideways. He was overstearing a bit to compansate

[AHMsite]

AMAZING. What is most incredible is actual wind speed. Had to google to find out this: "Perhaps more impressive, Jenkins managed to hit 126.1 mph with winds clocked at just 30 mph." (from Wired)

I didn't know of anything faster than 3 times the wind-speed (already amazing). This is almost science-fiction!!

[113MPG]

Your forgeting the apparent wind must be added to the 30 mph wind. So now you must be wondering why id didnt go faster.

[dcm05002]

where's the five point harness???

[bamfinglife]

How long did it take to build?

[bamfinglife]

That is so cool

[fizzguts]

Fantastic! Great news!

[greenbirdproject]

Hi Guys - Richard is very busy at the mo, but we might be able to get him to answer some of your questions on here in a few days... thanks for all the support though - especially for making the video the 31st most viewed video on Youtube this week! Awesome!

[13northexotics]

Awesome job goes out to Richard and the whole crew. I wish I had made it out to the NABX event this year to see this happen live. I saw you run a few years back in the flagship. Awesome job ! Congrats!

[Lawrence7of9]

Brilliant, ditto "rule Britannia", (we also have excellent architecture but it spans centuries, so we have lots of it of all kinds!)

[gagstx1]

2:20 onwards

is like one massive powerslide

well liked like it anyways

[dennistheprez]

the body and wheel fairings are pointed into the apparent wind, therefor it looks like it's powersliding but in reality it's going pretty much straight only 2 or 3 degrees of crabbing

[brixbrix]

it's an exact copy of a previously build vehicle, but by using lighter materials the Brits "won" the world record

[moondoggie71]

Fantastic! Congratulations to the Brits.

[7rundle]

Magnificent!

[CharlesJenkinson]

zenwick is right. The thing can only work if the horizontal aerofoil connecting to the wheel at the side is creating downforce. Whilst even in this scenario the side wheel will still lift, as someone comments in the video "he's flying", it transfers force onto the main wheels under the cockpit, which helps them get grip to react the large side forces from the sail. It's vectors - there's an (albeit smallish) component of force in the forward direction, which makes it move forward.

[jebbadiah]

next time you wear a helmet, close it!

[christianaxelsen]

You gotta hand it to the Brits... They really are innovative. Now they both the land speed record with an without power. Awesome! Just such a shame their country is so dominated with boring architecture when you know the got the means and brains to go the extra mile...

[Killerme460]

crazy fuckers, good effort though

[dillydean]

how dos that even work???

[MCD77]

Congratulations! fantastic machine, and Mr Jenkins has balls of green steel!

[GT4Dfenda]

cool , you guys are great engineers!

what i dont understand is how do you get wind energy and exactly is it converted to give power to the wheels?please explain

[viasevenvai]

it should've been pretty clear that this vehicle is propelled by the same means as a sail boat. study the boat if you're unfamiliar.

[andrewmail]

geez how fast were the winds that day?

[cghy]

kudos, u make us engineers proud.

[berry477]

super record ....bravo...bravo bravo

[firesoftheempyrean]

Thanks for putting this vid up!! Your pictures on your Website are beautiful and I was too lazy to sift through your videos there (sorry!!), but I was dying to see this vehicle in motion. Congratulations, and please PLEASE let's get rid of internal combustion vehicles by 2011!!!! I hate those things!!

[captain4g63t]

How is bliss? Try 2050. FYAD in GBS

[sonicoliver]

inspiring!

I want a 1:18 scale Greenbird model for my desk now please!

[Whatsgoodike]

One thing not said in the info is that the sustained wind speed was only 30mph!!

:-O

[daemn42]

Very cool. I am curious though why the outrigger is on the windward side during the record run. I'd think you could generate more power if you put it on the downwind side and leaned into it.

Some rule of wind powered records, or just lower drag?

[Whatsgoodike]

By putting it on that side, the greater the wind on the sail the less friction (rolling resistance) is made by moving the COG towards the middle of the hull, is just a matter of balance to make it safe. Your way makes sense, but it would add a great amount of rolling resistance.

[GOTgraphic]

The outrigger on the leeward side would also increase the danger of cart-wheeling.

[zenwick]

I reckon the outrigger strut must be an airfoil with negative lift, to counterbalance the overturning moment on the sail. Otherwise, you'd run a real risk of flipping over in a gust.

If you did it the opposite way, with the outrigger downwind and positive lift, you might run the risk of flying the whole contraption.

[133ITA]

Good Job ! Enjoy.

[LoGoriginal1]

Oh wow! How proud am I to be British!

Congratulations to Sir Richard & all the team on a staggering achievement. Well done indeed.

[kniga]

well done!