National records fall at Luderitz

Luderitz, Namibia (October 14, 2013) – The third day of the Luderitz Speed Challenge 2013 started with a stable wind from 25 knots to 30-35 knots average on the first part of the day, leading to a shellacking of national records.

The Australian Windsurfers were still fighting for first place.

Jacques Kint who was ready for action and wishing to lead his nation, broke it straight away with 45.76 knots. His colleague Tony Wynhoven surpassed him rapidly and achieved 47.23 knots.

Belgian Alain de Gendt was growing in confidence and beating his own record with 44.94 knots.

Croatian Boris Vujasinovic who joined the competition 2 days later, demonstrated his skills by improving his record of last year and achieved 46.33 knots.

Alexander Goncharov keeps on increasing his National Record looking better and better and achieved yet another new Ukrainian Record of 44.94 knots.

Well done to Gautier Bourgeois, the youngest rider of the event, who realized the best performance of the day with 47.32 knots.

The Kitesurfer Taro Niehaus has smashed his South African Record (held since 2011 on the channel) with 53.01 knots.

The French record holder Sébastien Cattelan who engineered the channel and is at the heart of the event, reached an impressive 55.36 knots, only 0.2 knots outside the World Record and he kept achieving between 53 and 55 knots on each run. If the wind was not as gusty as it was during the second part of the day the world kite surfing record would most certainly have been broken.

Tomorrow, the lighter conditions will allow competitors to recuperate and they will also have the opportunity to welcome local school children who will partake in an afternoon of water sports sponsored by SPAR.

The Luderitz Speed Challenge 2013 continues from October 7 to November 17.

Event website http://luderitz-speed.com/

What makes Luderitz so fast?
The warm Namib Desert winds accelerate through the surrounding hills and on reaching the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, thermal atmospheric pressure create incredibly high wind speeds. Statistically, the wind blows an average of 35 knots+ for at least 3 times a week during the event, often reaching 40-45 knots and sometimes, even up to 50 to 60 knots of warm and stable winds

Although the new canal dug in the lagoon in 2010 made a significant difference (the ultimate speed sailing World Record was broken!), the channel still required further improvements to ensure more records, especially in the world of professional windsurfing. In 2011, Sébastien Cattelan and Sophie Routaboul (organisers) researched the possibilities of widening and lengthening the channel to create a smoother water surface for faster speeds and deeper water for increased safety.

After 12 months of setting up the project and obtaining the necessary authorisation, they managed to dig an artificial channel just outside of the lagoon with the support of the Namibian Ministry of Environment & Tourism, thus ensuring the perfect conditions to set new world records!

At the 2012 Lüderitz Speed Challenge event, no less than 7 Windsurfers surpassed 50 knots, reaching 52 knots (3 knots more than the previous record) in only 40 knots of wind!

Report by event media