(December 12, 2022) – America’s Cup defender Emirates Team New Zealand and its pilot Glenn Ashby have set a new wind-powered land sailing world speed record on Lake Gairdner in Southern Australia.

Named ‘Horonuku’ meaning ‘gliding swiftly across the land’, Ashby’s craft was clocked at 222.4km/h (138.2mph) in 22 knots of windspeed, topping the record held by Britain’s Richard Jenkins whose ‘Greenbird’ land yacht hit 202.9km/h (126.08mph) in 2009.

As the rules for breaking records require the speed must be more than one mile per hour (1.6km/h) for at least 3 seconds above the existing record, the minimum target to exceed for a World Record run was 204.5km/h (127.07mph) for Ashby. Mission accomplished.

Ashby was clearly happy with the run but is not yet done. “The team and I are obviously buzzing but we know Horonuku has a lot more speed in it when we get more wind and better conditions. So for sure there is a cause for a celebration, but this isn’t the end.

“The objective has never been about just beating the record, it has always been about pushing things to the limit and going as fast as we possibly can,” said Ashby. “We know we can go faster, so we plan to.”

Before the 222.4km/h speed is declared ‘official’ there is a stringent verification process that needs to be conducted in accordance with the international governing body FISLY (Federation Internationale de Sand et Land Yachting) for the new world record…