AFTER more than 20 years commanding the seas and winning world titles, Bendigo-born sailor Glenn Ashby has set his first land-based world record.
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Ashby drove a land yacht designed by Emirates Team New Zealand 222.43km/h on Lake Gairdner in South Australia to smash the wind powered world land speed record.
The previous record was 202.9km/h recorded by Richard Jenkins on March, 2009.
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It was a fitting result for the yacht, called Horonuku, which means 'gliding swiftly across the land' in Maori.
"We weren't expecting to do as well as we did in conditions (on Sunday)," Ashby said. "It wasn't overly windy.
"Wind was about 22 knots when we did the actual run we broke the record in. It is hard to exactly say because the course is seven kilometres to get the craft up to speed."
The record was verified by Federation Internationale de Sand et Land Yachting but Ashby already has plans to break it.
"The craft itself is designed to do 250km/h," he said. "That was our target design specifications but to get over the record is incredible.
"Ultimately I would like to come back early in the new year with a windy forecast and have a proper go with a big breeze."
The idea to go from sea to land was a dream Ashby had as a child growing up in Bendigo.
"Growing up in Bendigo and mucking around as a kid when the lake was dried out we would make billy carts with bed sheets as a sail," he said.
"It was about wondering how fast we could go powered by wind, that's what a project is about - having a dream and turning it to reality years later."
Ashby took his idea to Emirates Team New Zealand ahead of the 2021 America's Cup, saying if they won he would like to try the land yacht project.
"It was something to help keep the engineers and team busy between cup cycles and also thinking about the future," he said. "We did a feasibility study, got the green light with sponsorship and managed to green light the project.
"It went from a design into a build process quickly at Emirates Team NZ facility. Over three-and-a-half months we built and tested it and a month later went out to South Australia."
Lake Gairdner is about six-and-a-half hours north-west of Adelaide with Ashby describing it as a harsh environment.
"It's two hours from Port Augusta. So a long way to shops and resources," he said. "Logistically, it is a huge challenge to get the craft here.
"We are staying at Mount Ive at a sheep station, which is about 160km along a dirt road from Port Augusta and 30km from Lake Gairdner."
Ashby said the land yacht is designed similar to a streamliner used in other land speed records. But its connection to the sea is also clear.
"It's a dragster fuselage with a big arm out the side," he said. "It is a carbon fibre arm with a pod on the end like a bulb keel that is filled with lead to stop it tipping.
"The carbon fibre wind sail powers us and it produces huge side force and forward thrust with the weight counteracting. It is a similar concept to how we sail on water, the difference being that I fly the wing.
"The wing acts a bit like a weather vane. It's a flap on the back like a wing elevator on the aircraft. So I am flying the wing and steering the craft - it's a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy."
If Ashby returns in the new year for another run on Lake Gairdner, he will also start turning his attention to the 2024 America's Cup.
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