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UK Pilot Breaks Wind-Powered Land Speed Record In ‘Greenbird’

After 10 years of hard work and dedication, British engineer Richard Jenkins has broken the wind-powered land-speed record.
Piloting the Greenbird, Jenkins clocked 126.1mph (202.9km/h) at Ivanpah Lake in Nevada, beating the previous record by just over 1


After 10 years of hard work and dedication, British engineer Richard Jenkins has broken the wind-powered land-speed record.

Piloting the Greenbird, Jenkins clocked 126.1mph (202.9km/h) at Ivanpah Lake in Nevada, beating the previous record by just over 10mph (16km/h).

Described as a "very high performance sailboat", the Greenbird performed flawlessly on the day - much to Mr Jenkins delight:

"It's great, it's one of those things that you spend so long trying to do and when it actually happens, it's almost too easy."

When not in motion, the Greenbird tips the scales at just 600kg, but this increases to over a tonne at full speed when downforce comes into play.

Aside from the wing bearings and wheel assembly, the entire craft is carbon-fibre.

Jenkins will now set his sights on breaking the record on ice with a symmetrical version of the Greenbird that swaps out the wheels for blades.

There's some debate as to whether the team can go faster again on ice, but only time and the right weather conditions will tell.

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