Sailing

The SP80 and Syroco teams have both got their remarkable boats on the water. Looking like a pair of alien spaceships, and pulled by ultra-fast kites instead of sails on masts, both these machines are built to reach terrifying, unprecedented speeds.

For the last few years, a startup based in La Rochelle in France has been prototyping a sailing catamaran that can be collapsed down for transport behind an ebike. The IZIBoat is now being readied for series production.

Back in 2020 we told you about the QuenchSea, a foot-pump-powered portable device for desalinating sea water. Well, its makers are back with the QuenchSea Reel, which uses deep-ocean water pressure to do the same job.

While luxury travel firm Orient Express is best known for its train excursions, it's now branching out into cruises … in a big way. The company has just unveiled what will reportedly be the world's largest sailing ship, the Orient Express Silenseas.

Danish yacht builder X-Yachts recently launched its first-ever electric-propelled yacht. Called the X4.9E, the hybrid vessel's propulsion comes from battery, sail or diesel power, and the latter two sources can recharge the batteries.

Drift Energy puts a different spin on wind power. Instead of creating windmill-derived electricity, its plan sees AI-routed hydrofoil sailing yachts generating electricity for electrolysis. Those yachts would then deliver green hydrogen ashore.

Italian senior yacht designer Luca Bassani is the force behind the world’s first full-wide-body superyacht. Dubbed wallywhy200, it's a modern vessel that boasts innovation, space, speed and performance.

Mindful of the significant carbon emissions generated by the marine industry in general, America's Cup reigning champion Emirates Team New Zealand has been developing a hydrogen-powered chase boat, and has now taken it out for its first spin.

In a typical sailboat race, the course is marked with a series of buoys that have to be anchored to the seabed, and which may get pushed around by winds or currents. MarkSetBot addresses those problems, with internet-connected robotic buoys.

After sending a fleet of self-sailing drones into the path of Hurricane Sam to help improve forecast models, Saildrone has now launched three uncrewed surface vehicles into the Gulf Stream winter to gather data on carbon uptake in the ocean.

Earlier this year, Saildrone joined forces with NOAA to launch sensor-packed unmanned surface vehicles into paths of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean to gather data. Now one of those drones has captured footage from inside a Category 4 hurricane.

Two teams, Switzerland's SP80 and France's Syroco, are taking aim at the world speed sailing record in 2022, with a pair of thoroughly remarkable kiteboats that both teams believe can smash previous records, targeting top speeds up to 80 knots.