The Physics of Land Yacht Sailing – Surreal “Boats-on-wheels” in the Nevada Desert

(CNN) — Over 300 miles from the nearest ocean, competitors in one of the world’s fastest sailing races are battling against a moody wind. A small army of boats — if you can call them that — carve across the Nevada desert. A stream of sand billows behind, caking each competitor’s face in fine, white grit. “It’s like Mother Nature has her foot on the throttle,” says Russ Foster, who has been racing these peculiar yachts-on-wheels since the 1970s. “The speeds that you go at — sometimes 100 miles per hour — means that you really need to stay on top of it or you could have a major accident,” he tells CNN’s Mainsail show. “But that’s part of the challenge.”

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/19/sport/surreal-boats-on-wheels-race/