Can you describe these devices? Are they planes, gliders? They are
a combination of both. They are basically a plane with floats on them, so they
can take off from the water and fly, but the idea is that we can measure the
wind speed at any height we like. With a boat we're stuck at six metres but the
planes can go to the height of the mast which is the equivalent of a 17-storey
building.
What are these planes used for? We're using them like a weather boat to measure
wind speed and direction. They can fly relatively slow: from 25 knots up to 60
and we can cover a large area. The last America s Cup was a race area of nine
square miles and we have now an area of 450 square miles to cover, so we need
some different equipment to do that effectively.
When will these planes be used and who will fly them? We have two planes and
we'll use them pretty much every day that the conditions are good for sailing
Alinghi 5. The company we use is from Australia and we have a couple of
experienced pilots to fly them.
