One day, Thierry, the CEO of WhiteFrontier, arrives at the office one morning and tells us: "guys, I have to tell you something crazy! Last night, I met some incredible people, one day, they said to each other, what if we break the sailing speed record?"
Considering the enthusiasm of Thierry around this project, we said to ourselves, ok, we have to go meet these young people, because they seem to be awesome.
So we met them and we explain you everything.
What is SP80?
SP80 is above all a boat. A boat being built by engineers from the EPFL in Lausanne. A boat that has a mission, and not the least: to break the world sailing record. The current record is 65.45 knots (121.21 km/h) is held since November 24, 2012 by Vestas Sailrocket 2 of the Australian Paul Larsen.
Who is SP80?
SP80 is above all 3 guys who have a common passion: kiteboarding. Mayeul van den Broek, Benoit Gaudiot and Xavier Lepercq do not only have kitesurfing in common, they are also all 3 graduates of the EPFL. But behind them, there is a team of 50 students who give literally EVERYTHING to make this project succeed.
How complicated is it to break a record?
Well, technically, the SP80 team will explain it to you much better than I can. That said, I'll try to make it easier to understand.
The record has not been broken since 2012! Well, that's 10 years, guys, wake up! But it's not that simple, remember, at the beginning of the article, I told you that the sailing speed record in the water was 65.45 knots, or 121km.
Beyond that speed, basically, your boat can't go any faster, it starts to vibrate and it's ruined! BUT, there is a solution to that, I'm not going to give it to you, you think well, otherwise, anyone could break the record, we are not crazy.
They have a solution and they are building a crazy boat pulled by a kite to go super fast.
How many knots do they want to go?
To beat the record, technically, you have to go at 65.5 knots, but the SP80 team is crazy, they want to go at 80 knots! Yeah yeah, just like that.
Why do we support them?
If you've read our website, then you know that our mission as a brewer is to brew great beers to encourage you to craft your life. And frankly, we agree that SP80 is clearly crafting their life, right? Wait, launching a project that will surely last several years, that mobilizes so many students and that costs so much, it's pretty bold, isn't it? In any case, for us, it was a real coup de coeur, so we decided to support them.
Why do we support them?
If you've read our site, then you know that our mission as a brewer is to brew great beers that encourage you to be the craftsman of your life. Our slogan is "CRAFT YOUR LIFE". And frankly, we agree that SP80 is clearly crafter their life, right? Wait, launching a project that will surely last several years, that mobilizes so many students and that costs so much, it's pretty bold, isn't it? In any case, for us, it was a real coup de coeur, so we decided to support them.
How do we help them?
Well, once again, by doing what we do best: brewing. Yes, we decided to brew them a beer that will be released this summer. Part of the profits will help them go further.
The little extra
Just imagine, these guys have been working for two years to be the fastest on the water without mechanical assistance. That's fine. But can you imagine how this will help science? Could we imagine cargo ships entirely pulled by kite wings?
Anyway, we like this project a lot. If you like it, don't hesitate to share this article around you.
