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Topic: 50KT/500 has been broken (Read 2942 times)
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Justin
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Anyone that was at the Spring speed week and rode a speed board can tell you that it's a totally different animal to a twin tip and the measly 31 knots I managed to clock felt like I was doing some low level flying all be it a bit out of control, 50 knots on the water in the conditions these guys are faced with takes some doing. Source: luderitz-speed.com 50 knots to the Catman!!!
Friday, October 03, 2008, Friday 9:59 PM
It was a massive Friday at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, with a new world record, and the magic 50 knot barrier broken by Sebastien Cattelan of France with a blistering run of 50.26 knots (93kph). The new record is still subject to ratification by a sitting of the World Speed Sailing Records Council.
In the 35 to 40 knot winds that blew today, gusting to more than 45 knots (83kph), the speed sailors braved very rough water conditions to achieve these records speeds, with numerous runs by top sailors of over 49 knots. Several new outright records were set:
• Sebastien Cattelan 50.26 knots – new world outright speed sailing record, and the first person to break the magic “50 knot” barrier (sponsored by Genetrix kites, xelerator boards, Prolimit, Ocean eyewear, Dabens)
• Rolf van der Vlugt 44.9 knots – new Dutch outright speed sailing record (Airush, Mystic, Protest, TUDelft, X-tremeboards)
• David Williams 44.82 knots – new UK outright speed sailing record (Best Kiteboarding, Dead Man clothing)
• Charlotte Consorti 42.19 knots – new French women’s outright speed sailing record (F-One, Nike, Maui Magic, Baracuda, Weleda)
• Katja Roose 36.83 – new Dutch women’s outright speed sailing record (Protest, Maui Magic, Airush)
Other top times today were from Jerome Bila 49.26 knots and Alexander Caizergues at 49.21 knots. Note that these times are verified by the official time keeper, but are still subject to final ratification by the WSSRC.
Cattelan's new record ups the ante in this 2008 edition of the month-long Lüderitz Speed Challenge, where American Rob Douglas’ 49.84 knots on the 19th September smashed the 49.09 knot world record set by windsurfer Antoine Albeau in the ‘trench’ at St Marie de la Mer in France earlier this year.
Coming into today’s event, he was struggling with an unrelated small injury, requiring him to reduce his activity. “I’ve been in bed the last three days, concentrating on what I would do today. Then I just did it,” he says. According to Cattelan, his record breaking run of today saw a maximum speed of 58 knots – 107kph – on the GPS, with an average of 54.5 knots over 200m.
Saturday promises even stronger winds, with a new milestone ahead of the competitors – the psychological barriers of 60mph and then 100kph.
Both the competitors and ESF Events, the organisers of the Lüderitz Speed Challenge are expecting even more world-beating performances tomorrow. |
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Basil Cambanis
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Unofficially, Rob Douglas might have raised the bar further, he set a blistering 50.6 knots a short while ago. I was right behind him at the time and man was he happy. He timed his run to perfection as there was a surge of water which raised the level enough to hug the barrier.
Several other guys recorded their personal bests in those few minutes (including Taro - 49 something), except for me, I had too big a kite at the time (9sqm).
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Basil Cambanis
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Cancel that, the official time of Rob is JUST below Alex's time (it was adjusted down for current).
Close call, but tomorrow promises to be a big wind day, and the high tide will be just before 12pm, so we should have stronger wind as it's a bit later in the day.
The rankings at present are : 1st Alex, 2nd Robert Douglas, 3rd Sebastien, 4th Sylvain, 5th Chris Prin Guinon
It's probably the last day of competition so we'll go all out to improve our "official" times.
I'll be very surprised if the record is not improved, but by WHO ?
I've found that great peak speeds don't mean much when it comes to the 500 meter, but they are a precursor to better averages too with the right training, and they are what drives us on to better things.
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« Last Edit: October 10, 2008, 02:36:28 am by Basil Cambanis »
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Basil Cambanis
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The event's officially over and there will be prize giving at the Nest Hotel at 9am today.
We had one heck of a party this evening/morning and good fun was had by all.
The world record now stands at 50.57 knots set by Alex, and 50 knots was surpassed several times by Alex, Seb and Rob.
We're on the threshold of a new era in speed kiting where speeds previously unheard of will become common place (100km's +).
A GPS world ranking will come into effect from January 2009, so let's get out there and make our presence felt.
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Basil Cambanis
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« Last Edit: November 21, 2008, 11:33:46 pm by Basil Cambanis »
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