Richard Jenkins (British engineer)
Encyclopedia
Richard Jenkins is a 32-year-old engineer from Lymington
Lymington
Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...

, UK. He is known for engineering and sailing wind driven vessels on land, ice, and water. In 1999, he founded the Windjet Project http://www.windjet.co.uk/ while studying Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College. Since then he has designed, built, and tested 4 separate speed record craft.

Early years

Jenkins became interested in sailing and engineering at a young age: he was dinghy sailing
Dinghy sailing
Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:* the sails* the foils ....

 at age 10, working on the last airworthy Short Sunderland
Short Sunderland
The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers. It took its service name from the town and port of Sunderland in northeast England....

 flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...

 at age 12, building an International Moth dinghy
Moth (dinghy)
The Moth Class is the name for a small development class sailing dinghy. There are three "species" of moths currently in existence: the International Moth, a fast sailing hydrofoil dinghy with liberal restrictions; the Classic Moth, a traditional dinghy with tighter restrictions; and the British...

 in his early teens, and doing design work for super maxi yachts while attending college. He also helped to sail the Mathew
Matthew (ship)
The Matthew was a caravel sailed by John Cabot in 1497 from Bristol to North America, presumably Newfoundland. After a voyage which had got no further than Iceland, Cabot left again with only one vessel, the Matthew, a small ship , but fast and able. The crew consisted of only 18 people. The...

, a replica of John Cabot
John Cabot
John Cabot was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of parts of North America is commonly held to have been the first European encounter with the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings in the eleventh century...

’s 13th century galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...

 in which the explorer discovered the island of Newfoundland.

World Land Speed Record

On 26 March 2009, Jenkins broke the world land speed record for a wind powered vehicle. He reached 126.1 mph (202.9 km/h) in his car Greenbird http://www.greenbird.co.uk/ on the dry plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

. The previous record of 116 mi/h was set by American Bob Schumacher in 1999, driving his vehicle the Iron Duck in the same location.
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