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