World's Fastest Sailing Woman - New Record

by allafrica.com/Sail-World on 18 Oct 2007 Sjoukje Bredenkamp, 19, from Langebaan, South Africa has broken the outright women's speed sailing record in Luederitz, by sailing her Helix kite at an incredible speed of 42.35 knots, beating the previous record held by windsurfer Karen Yaggi of Switzerland.

She is now officially the fastest woman in the world on water!

Sjoukje has been the female kite-boarding world record holder since October 2006, when she broke the record in Walvis Bay with a speed of 37.24 knots.

She then followed the 2007 Speed Kite-boarding World Tour, and was recently ranked 2nd overall for the year.

Since September 15, the South African speed girl has been very busy on the water competing in the Luederitz Speed Challenge, an international kite-boarding record attempt.

The event continued until October 9, and during the month Sjoukje managed to improve her original kite-boarding world record on four separate occasions.

The first week to 38.45 knots, the next week to 39.45, third to 40.23 and on the last day she managed to break the outright women's record for all sailing craft, with a smashing 42.35 knots, thus beating the Swiss record.

Sjoukje was riding a 5-metre Helix kite, a new model in the Naish Sigma range, a revolutionary new shape in the kite-boarding world, and a specially designed speed board from Cape Doctor kite-boards in Table View! The 500 meter course set up in second lagoon Wetland in Luederitz has proven very fast!

Alexandre Caizergues managed to bring the male kite-boarding record into second place on the Outright ranking with an amazing speed of 47.92 knots, the second fastest sailing speed ever just behind current outright world record holder Finian Maynard from the Virgin Isles.