greenbird

as i’ve mentioned in previous entries, the wind (which can some days be my best friend) - pushes me up hills on my way home, but can also be an additional challenge, acting much like the tension dial on a stationary bike adding the need for much more thigh-burning effort to get to wherever i am heading. wind has been used by people for centuries, powering windmills and of course more recently driving wind-powered generators. wind has also been used throughout history as a means of propulsion - consider the following info. from wikipedia . . . "the earliest known use of land yachts was in ancient egypt, where they were apparently built for leisure. the chinese had "wind-driven carriages" since the 6th century ad, during the liang dynasty, and eventually mounted masts and sails on large wheelbarrows."

here's a lovely image of a young man impressing his main squeeze in the earlier part of the twentieth century (i wonder if this was what she had in mind when he asked her to go sailing with him?!) . . .

so what do you think of when you think about vehicles powered by the wind? well of course there are all manner of sailing vessels, but more recently consideration has also been given to land-based vehicles. some of you - particularly those who live near large expanses of water that freezes over in the winter will already be familiar with ice yachts . . .

well, something of the same idea but ramped up to the tenth power has been applied to this extraordinary machine, versions of which are going to go after both the land and the ice yacht world speed records . . .

named the greenbird, it is carrying that name as a reverential nod to donald campbell, the last british world record holder in his vehicle the bluebird. the greenbird has emerged from the ashes of a previous project named “windjet” which was dedicated to much the same objectives. greenbird is the result of a collaboration between The project is a recent partnership between ecotricity (the uk’s largest independent green electricity company), and engineer richard jenkins (founder of the windjet project) seen here with this beautiful vehicle

the current records on land are 116.7 mph (188 km/h) - set on march 20th, 1999 in prim, nevada (usa) by bob schumacher (usa) in the 'iron duck'. on ice there isn’t an official record, but it is generally figured to be around 80 mph. what takes this machine a notch above ”ordinary” land and ice yachts is in its design refinement. utilizing solid sails much like an aircraft wing, the greenbird is able to travel at 3 to 5 times the windspeed, the chief limitation being friction generated at the point of contact with the surface. to learn more about how the greenbird works go here.

to watch video footage of this extraordinary machine being designed, assembled and raced then visit here.

to learn more about this fascinating project you should visit greenbird's homepage.