Namibia – There are few areas of sport where one sees huge differences between the competitors or their equipment. If a swimmer wears a special suit at one competition and wins, other swimmers begin wearing similar suits, and people will say that this “revolutionizes” the sport. So what would these same people say if one day someone showed up at the pool in, for instance, an F-18 jet? Then, what would they say if a couple years later, a swimmer in plain old trunks managed to beat the jet? Sort of “revolutionary,” wouldn’t you say? Â
If you’re new to speed sailing, let’s quickly get you up to, uhm, speed: There are four camps vying for the title. There are the watersled styles – fixed wing dragsters which are made to go one direction and pretty much one direction only. There are the windsurfers who sail on boards with attached masts and sails. There are the massive multihulls, of which a hydrofoil design named l’Hydroptere has (until now) held the official overall speed sailing record, and then there are the kiteboarders, who strap their feet onto a small board, grab hold of a big kite, and as of yesterday, are the fastest sailors on the water … Details
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The first New Zealand Freestyle Nationals were held in Auckland from Oct. 1. – Oct 3. 2010. The forecast, even a couple of days ahead, showed a promising SW flow without any rain on the weather maps and two days with 16-20 knots SW, bingo!
The low entry numbers were a bit disappointing to start with but not much of a surprise as events usually take a few years to get a proper following. Freestyle is still a bit under the radar in New Zealand, so we are hoping this event will change this for good.
There was not much  … Details
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Alex Caizergues has officially set a new World Speed Sailing Record, at 54.10 knots, during his first run, at 15h38, yesterday afternoon.
Five New National records were broken on the same day:
Kitesurfing:
USA – Rob Douglas, 51.88
Namibia – Stefan Metzger 45.02Â Â …Â Details
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Absolutely amazing. The l’Hydroptère no longer holds the world’s fastest speed sailing record.
In the 2010 Luderitz Speed Challenge, the record of 51.36 was broken numerous times.
Kitesurfers were delivering top performances and the second Luderitz lagoon lived up to all expectations … Details
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