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222km/hr! Emirates Team NZ break speed record with Glenn Ashby on Horonuku

Emirates Team New Zealand Horonuku

Gairdner Lake – 12t December 2022 – Emirates Team New Zealand and Glenn Ashby broke world land speed record at 222km/h with their sailing yacht Horonuku, touching a speed faster than any previous record.

In Maori, Horonuku means “gliding swiftly across the land “, a name apparently not chosen at random by Emirates Team New Zealand, because they succeeded in their intent by achieving an impressive 222.4 km/h in just 22 knots of true wind, racing across the salty surface of Lake Gairdner in South Australia.

Piloting Horonuku was Glenn Ashby, a professional sailor with an outstanding career behind: The team and I are obviously buzzing to have sailed Horonuku at a speed faster than anyone has ever before powered only by the wind – said Ashby – But in saying that we know Horonuku has a lot more speed in it when we get more wind and better conditions. So for sure there is a cause for a celebration, but this isn’t the end.

From initial idea and the beginning of this world record attempt, which was pushed and supported by Grant Dalton, Matteo de Nora and the rest of the team at Emirates Team New Zealand, the objective has never been about just beating the record, it has always been about pushing things to the limit and going as fast as we possibly can. We know we can go faster, so we plan to.”

Before the 222.4km/h speed is declared ‘official’ there is a stringent verification process that needs to be conducted in accordance with the international governing body FISLY (Federation Internationale de Sand et Land Yachting) for the new world record speed to become ratified.

There has been an independent FISLY approved judge on the ground at Lake Gairdner to witness and verify the run, the GPS recording from Horonuku and all other mandatory requirements of a record attempt.

Horonuku is fitted with an approved GPS which records survey grade, differential GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) data which provides 21 data points over the two second record period. Each of those data points supplies a position estimate accurate to around 10mm. This will deliver an average speed over two seconds the result of which will be directly comparable to that of the standing record of 202.9km/h recorded by Richard Jenkins on March 29th 2009, a record which has stood for over 5000 days.

“The Land speed project has been a new opportunity to push the boundaries in aerodynamics, structural forces, construction methods and materials fields.” said Emirates Team New Zealand Principal Matteo de Nora. “What is often underestimated is that the technologies we explore in challenges like this- or in an America’s Cup campaign – are ultimately the foundation of tomorrow’s technology. Being ahead of the times in technology is what fascinates about all the challenges faced by the team so far.”

The high speed runs by Ashby and the team comes after a frustrating few months of weather delays at the Lake due to unprecedented rainfall and surface water leading to delays in the program, and the weather forecast for this weekend was equally as challenging with significant wind direction changes and the dreaded threat of rain and thunderstorms.

“As a team we have been hanging off every weather update from Clouds all week, so have been doing everything possible to be ready for the small windows that present themselves to us. What originally looked like a good 20-22 knot day all day Saturday ended up not delivering the winds we needed.” explained Ashby – With rain in the surrounding area, and less wind in the foreseeable forecasts after Sunday we were running a fine line. So the fact we have managed to thread the needle and do a few record runs is especially satisfying. But one thing that we have always understood and has been abundantly clear, is that no matter how prepared you are, you cannot achieve a result like this without an amazing team around you and a little help from Mother Nature.”

Now the team has passed the previous record speed and is confident that with more wind Horonuku has the ability go even faster, Glenn and the team team will take a break and await a perfect forecast to have another run. In the absence of any more breeze in the foreseeable future and Christmas just around the corner that is likely to come in 2023.

Luca D'Ambrosio

Editor-in-chief, boat tester and journalist. Luca began sailing at an early age with his father then as an adult discovered sailing regattas and offshore racing. He has been working in publishing for more than 30 years and continues to sail incessantly, especially aboard the editorial staff's boat, an old lady of the seas that he has completely rebuilt and which serves excellently as a "mobile laboratory" for The International Yachting Media.