Greenbird breaks the wind powered car speed world record

Written by Tamsin Hemingray on 18 May 2011

: Image via Wikipedia

British engineer Richard Jenkins has become the fastest driver ever to use only the power of the wind – smashing the previous record in the process.

And the all-British Greenbird carbon fibre land yacht needed winds of only 30mph to reach its top speed of 126.1mph, besting previous record holder, American Bob Schumacher by almost 10mph.

The record-breaking run took place at the dried-out bed of Lake Ivanpah on the border between Nevada and California.

Originally the Windjet project, the craft can operate on both dry land and on frozen water – and is designed to break the record on both surfaces.

It was renamed to capture the spirit of the Bluebird – the legendary series of craft headed by Donald Campbell in the 1950s and 60s before his death at more than 300mph on Coniston Water.

The Ecotricity–sponsored Greenbird is billed as being “part aeroplane, part sailboat, part Formula One car” and it used some clever, but relatively simple principles to speed itself to glory.

Power is produced in a similar way to how an aeroplane generates ‘lift’ to climb in the air; using wind moving over the ’sail’, which is essentially a vertical wing.

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