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50kt barrier falls to French kitesurfer
06 Oct 2008
All records set at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge are still subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Records Council, but this should be a formality. The challenge runs for a month at a small coastal town in southern Namibia.
In the 35 to 40kt winds, gusting to more than 45kts (83kph), the speed sailors faced very rough water conditions to achieve record speeds, with numerous runs by top sailors of over 49kts. In addition to Sebastien Cattelan's 50.26kts record on the Friday, David Williams reached 44.82kts in setting a new UK outright speed sailing record.
Cattelan, who has been kiting for over 10 years, is a pioneer of speed sailing and was the driving force behind establishing this speed strip in Lüderitz, where a smooth stretch of water in the lagoon is buffeted by strong winds that are accelerated by a shallow valley. Cattelan's new record on Friday smashed the 49.09kts record set by windsurfer Antoine Albeau in 'the trench' at St Marie de la Mer in France earlier this year.
According to Cattelan, his record breaking run saw a maximum speed of 58kts (107kph) on the GPS, with an average of 54.5kts over 200m.
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