The Windjet ice vehicle is, in essence, a variant of the already proven land craft, which has undergone 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of testing. Using the latest in cutting edge materials, the Windjet ice vehicle will run on specially constructed skates in order to challenge the 145 mph (232 km/h) ice speed record. The new vehicle incorporates fifty three major improvements over the prototype, allowing it to accelerate faster, reach a higher top speed and endure greater loads. The sail control system has also been redesigned to allow the vehicle to operate more efficiently.

 Ice Vehicle Modifications

In order to allow the Windjet land vehicle to run on ice, a number of modifications were made to the land configuration. The most major difference is the running gear; the land vehicle uses Indy racing car tyres and the ice craft uses (very expensive!) skates.

 How does it stop?

On land, Windjet uses two 18 inch (457 mm) disc brakes and two eight pot callipers, supplied by Lola (a Windjet Technical Partner), on the rear wheels. Since the ice vehicle does not use wheels an alternative system had to be devised to slow the vehicle down and bring it to rest. The main "sail" on the Windjet ice vehicle is in three sections which pivot about the vertical mast.

As each sail section is independently controlled from the cockpit, Richard can rotate the lower section while while keeping the upper two sections powered which produces large amounts of aerodynamic drag, similar to air-brakes on an aircraft. During this manoeuvre, the upper sections need to remain powered to prevent the nose from lifting off the ice which make the pilot unable to steer.

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