G,day, Everyone,

Lachlan, Vindicator weighs around 160 kilos (350 lb in old money).
It is 6 metres long overall & the rear axle is 3.5 metres.
The wing is 4 metres long & is 4 sq metres in area (yes, same as a blokart!). The yacht is one of the smallest made for a speed record.
Best speed I got was 144kph in 1993, when the record stood at 151kph (Bertrand Lambert of France). 3 of the 8 runs I made that day were over 140kph.

We didn't have gps then, we had a 2 string lines set up at 50 metres apart & a blade on the yacht to cut the lines. The first line cut started the stopwatch & the second stopped it.

Cheers, Bill

A girl at work rides one of those recumbent trikes. The're great in every respect except for the fact that your actually lower than a car window and thus virtually invisible in traffic. She has an orange flag on it, but I still would be to scared to use it in traffic.

For measuring speed I have been using a Topeak wireless bicycle computer. See "www.topeak.com" for that and other useful products.
My unit is three years old now and I have not used it for a while due to not sailing where high speeds are achievable for some time.

The system consists of a magnet attached to one of the wheels, a sensor/sender unit attached to the fork/frame so that the magnet passes the sensor within 5mm on each revolution of the wheel, the remote receiver/computer (450mm remote is about max) plus handy attachment brackets.

The computer, a bit bigger in diameter than one, and about the thickness of four, 50 cent coins, has a software clock, pulse meter and a fairly simple (to some, not me) program. The program needs to be calibrated to the rolling circumference of the measuring wheel.

The program will display via LCD, read outs of current speed, session time and distance travelled, session maximum and average speed, total time and odometer reading since last battery change and a maintenance reminder.

I have had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the collective unit, provided the battery in the sensor and the computer are both fresh.

It may have a recording speed limit of 99 kmh (REALLY fast on a bicycle). Check specs on the latest models.

At $80 it is more economical than a GPS unit which I doubt would be as accurate as one of these. However a GPS unit or compass could be handy when you want to find your way home when you have sailed over the horizon on a salt pan.

Cheers Cisco.