#Speed - As British sailor Hannah White launches her bid to become the fastest woman on water, could the likes of Ireland's Olympic hero Annalise Murphy be inspired to make their own record-breaking attempts?

Yachting Monthly reports on sailor and broadcaster White's plans not only to break the women's speed record over one nautical mile with the purpose-built Moth foil Speedbird, but also reach a speed above 40 knots.

Doing so will involve a combination of state-of-the-art boat design, with titanium and carbon fibre components, and peak physical conditioning on the part of White – who is already training with a cross-discipline team to build new muscle groups for the core strength needed.

That's a challenge indeed, but nothing insurmountable for this experienced endurance sailor, who only this week became the fastest person to cross the English Channel by single-handed dinghy.

The question is, does Ireland have the calibre of high-performance sailors to attempt such a feat?

Annalise Murphy would make an excellent candidate – she might be focused on next summer's Olympics right now, but she's building up experience in the Moth, and would be well placed to launch her own speed record bid after the Games.

What other Irish sailors could take on the record? Have your say in the comments below!

#channelrecord –  Hannah White has become the fastest person to cross the Channel in a single-handed dinghy. She completed the gruelling task in a sailing hydrofoil, a small boat which lifts above the water on two hydrofoils as it gathers speed. Starting from Cap de Gris in France, she arrived at Dover in England in a record time of 3 hours, 44 minutes and 39 seconds.

Hannah, a relative beginner in hydrofoil sailing, only started to learn how to master this unique boat in February. Training for this Channel crossing challenge is a precursor to her ultimate quest: to break the Women's Speed Sailing World Record over one nautical mile next year in a unique, purpose-built sailing hydrofoil.

A keen adventurer, Hannah has previously sailed the Atlantic solo three times, participated in the gruelling Haute Route Cycle Race across the French Alps and kayaked 205 miles across the rivers of England. She has been a Land Rover Global Ambassador since 2013.

Hannah White said: "I'm much more used to an arduous 3000-mile slog across oceans as opposed to a 24-mile sprint across the Channel, so the transition has been a real eye-opener. Speed sailing requires a very different physiology to long distance races, so this was really an opportunity for me to build my skills over a shorter distance in a hydrofoiling boat."

Mark Cameron, Jaguar Land Rover Global Experiential Marketing Director, said: "This Channel crossing highlights Hannah's incredible ability to push herself beyond the limits of normal capability. As a global ambassador for Land Rover, Hannah embodies all the characteristics that are so central to our brand; strength, determination and an ability to go above and beyond."

Hannah will be attempting to break the Women's Speed Sailing Record over one nautical mile in the first quarter of 2016 in Speedbird, her state-of-the-art, unique hydrofoil sailboat. Land Rover is collaborating in the development of the Speedbird boat, drawing from its unparalleled innovation, engineering expertise and industry-leading facilitiesto ensure the boat is capable of breaking the current world record.

Hannah will be exhibiting the Speedbird boat at the Cardiff Act of the Extreme Sailing SeriesTM on the 19-21 June 2015.