Fifty knots broken again - New Speed Record

by Markus Schwendtner on 5 Oct 2008 Alexandre Caizergues (FRA) is the fastest sailor on earth now, with a blistering 50.57 knots run today, accompanied by several more 50s and high 49s.

Yesterday the Lüderitz Speed Challenge saw Sebastien Cattelan of France become the first human being to sail at more than 50 knots (93kph) – a world record he held for only 24 hours before compatriot Alexandre Caizergues snatched it away with not one but three runs over 50 knots – reaching a top speed of 50.57 knots (93.65kph).

• Alexandre Caizergues (France) – new outright world speed sailing record of 50.57 knots
(F-One, Ouest Provence, Volkswagen Utilitaires, ION, Placide)

• New outright Netherlands speed sailing record: Rolf van der Vlugt 45.99 knots (Airush, Mystic, Protest, TUDelft, X-tremeboards)

• New outright UK speed sailing record: David Williams 44.78 knots
(Best Kiteboarding, Dead Man clothing, KMS)

• New outright France women’s speed sailing record: Charlotte Consorti 43.53 knots (F-One, Nike, Maui Magic, Baracuda, Weleda)

• New outright Slovenia speed sailing record: Jernej Privsek 41.97 knots
(Jägermeister, Cocta, Kitesfera, Garmin)

• New outright Belgium speed sailing record: Christian Baret 40.87 knots
(Summerwood Guesthouse)

• New outright Netherlands women’s speed sailing record: Katja Roose 37.18 knots (Protest, Maui Magic, Airush)

• New UK women’s kitesurf record: Jemma Grobbelaar 35.61 knots (Flexifoil, Xelerator, Dakine, Arnette, Derevko, Cti, Lizzy, Island Tribe)

These speeds are verified, but are still subject to ratification by the WSSRC.

The massive winds that blew yesterday were exceeded today, although a later low tide meant a slightly delayed start. Several of the top competitors, including Cattelan and American Rob Douglas (who set a new world record in the first few days of the Lüderitz Speed Challenge), selected slightly smaller kites in today’s exceptionally strong conditions, but then swapped back – possibly costing them a few valuable fractions of a second on the 500m run. They still achieved top results, with Cattelan getting a 49.69 and Douglas a 48.82. Other top performers today were Christophe Prin Guenon (FR), who reached 49.54, and Jerome Bila (FR) who hit 49.09.

So far the Lüderitz Speed Challenge has seen ten new outright records and four new outright women’s records – outright world speed sailing record (Alexandre Caizergues - FR), outright women’s world speed sailing record (Sjoukje Bredenkamp - RSA), outright national records for USA (Rob Douglas), France (Alexandre Caizergues), Netherlands (Rolf van der Vlugt), United Kingdom (David Williams), South Africa (Hennie Bredenkamp), Slovenia (Jerney Privsek), Namibia (Jurgen Geiger) and Belgium (Christian Barret), with women’s outright records for France (Charlotte Consorti), Netherlands (Katja Roose) and South Africa (Sjoukje Bredenkamp).

www.luderitz-speed.com

Speed:World:Cup is the officially sanctioned world tour of the International Speed Windsurfing Class (ISWC) and the Professional Kite Riders Association (PKRA)

The Speed:World:Cup events go from exceptional action in Namibia to more cosmopolitan spots such as Fuerteventura - the historical European Speedsurfing Capital, to huge shows of extreme conditions on small islands like Karpathos. In total, there are 200 to 300 competitors at the same time, from places like Australia or Brasil, to Germany or Norway. http://www.speedworldcup.com