World Speed Sailing Record Attempt Namibia 2006

[Totti-Amun]

Tuesday, 10 October 2006

Yesterday co-organizer Juergen Geiger clocked a 47.3 knot top speed testrun in our record attempt venue, with an average of around 44 knots. This all without preparations and just "out of the box" in 35 knots conditions and an angle of 135 degree. We will do some more preparations on the spot until the record attempt starts and thus are sure to achieve some real wave making results !


Die Veranstaltung beginnt nach dem ISA Worldcup übernächste Woche, dauert 4 Wochen, mit den 20 folgenden Fahrern (2 Plätze sind noch frei):


Alain de Gendt
Alessandro Comerlati
Bjorn Dunkerbeck
Christian Bornemann
Darren Barker
Dave White
Frank Stein
Franz Grabner
Hennie Bredenkamp
Henrik Klagges
John Benamati
Juergen Geiger
Maaike Kallenborn
Morten Knutsen
Nick Vardalachos
Rob Munro
Thomas Doeblin
Zara Davis

[FloHBrand]

Wenn sich keiner mehr findet um die 2 Plätze zu besetzen würde ich mich zurnot aufopfern und mitfahren :)

@ Totti stellst du wieder Bilder und Berichte ein ???

Gruß Florian

[Totti-Amun]

Wenn sich keiner mehr findet um die 2 Plätze zu besetzen würde ich mich zurnot aufopfern und mitfahren :)

@ Totti stellst du wieder Bilder und Berichte ein ???

Gruß Florian


Hehe, kein Thema. Die Startgebühr liegt bei rund 3.500?... ;)

Klaro, Pics und Infos folgen. Heute ist der erste Tag vom Worldcup, Infos dazu in dem anderen Thread hier im Forum.
Der World Record Attempt findet ganz in der Nähe vom Worldcup Spot statt, direkt im Anschluß...

Grüße

Totti

[FloHBrand]

Ich verkauf einfach mein ganzes Surfzeug, dann komm ich schon irgendwie auf 3.500? :)

Allerdings hab ich dann nichts mehr zum surfen, so ein Mist :)
Naja kann ein anderer den Platz haben.

[Totti-Amun]

Sooo, 2 Tage noch. Am 26. geht es los. Hoffentlich ist dann mehr Wind als jetzt zuletzt, die Prognosen bis zum Beginn nächster Woche sind allerdings miserabel...

[Totti-Amun]

Wednesday, 25 October 2006

We got some wind today, but the preparations for the record attempt that starts tomorrow even didn't allow for timing some testruns. All competitors left with a big smile from the first visit of the record attempt spot today, and there is already a chance for the first sailing session tomorrow.

Riders briefing will be tomorrow at 10:00 and hopefully we can go on the water directly afterwards!

[Totti-Amun]

Good Forecast

Although the wind conditions are only marginal at the moment, we are looking forward for some free sailing in the next days with a very good forecast for mid of next week. Still a lot of days to go, but from strength and direction Wednesday and Thursday are looking really big. Everyone is optimizing his equipment for the big days. All we need is a 30+ knots day and a lot of records will go down for sure!

[Totti-Amun]

Monday, 30 October 2006

The first windy day here in Walvis Bay brought again a real flood of new records on the nautical mile course set up today.

Bjorn Dunkerbeck missed the world record by only 0.5 knots, but set a production record on the mile with 39.52 knots. Hennie Bredenkamp (RSA), Alain de Gendt (BEL), Dave White (GBR), Franz Grabner (AUT), Frank Stein (NAM), Nick Vardalachos (GRE), Thomas Doeblin (GER), Morten Knutsen (NOR), Maaike Kallenborn (NED) on the windsurfers and Juergen Geiger (NAM) as well as Rob Munro (GBR) on the Kiteboard all set new national records on the mile (records subject to WSSRC ratification).

The forecast for tomorrow is even better so we are expecting new records set again tomorrow, hopefully we see the first world record going down!

[Totti-Amun]

Three world records have been broken today, subject to WSSRC ratification !

Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1, North) bettered the old nautical mile record by more than one knot to 41.14 knots, Zara Davis (T1, Gaastra) also bettered the world record by more than one knot to 34.74 knots and Rob Munro (Cape Doctor, Naish) set a new Kitespeed world record over the mile with 35.65 knots.

A lot of national records have been also broken, full report and pictures will be posted tomorrow !

[Totti-Amun]

Speedsailing Record Attempt Walvis Bay 2006


The first day on the 500m course brought some more new national records, Nick Vardalachos from Greece made it to 38.92 knots and Morten Knutsen to a new Norwegian record at 36.98 knots. Weymouth Speedweek winner Nigel Bowley is going for a new British Kitespeed record with 41.38 knots.

Zara Davis from Great Britain set a new british womens record with 37.24 knots, after several times checking the official timing video.

All new records are subject to WSSRC ratification, but commissioner Michael Ellison so far confirmed the speeds.

Top speed of the day was set by Dave White from Great Britain at 42.91 knots on his production Tabou Manta 49, directly followed by Bjorn Dunkerbeck. Also joining the 40 knots club were Alessandro Comerlati and Darren Barker.

Sailing will continue tomorrow hopefully on the sandbar in Walvis Bay, and then we are waiting for the really big days in the salinas!

[Totti-Amun]

Thursday, 09 November 2006

The waiting game has begun another time, and the competitors enjoy themselves in the meantime with some freesailing and alternate activities like paragliding, shark fishing, quadbiking and some rounds of golf.

The forecast is looking good for the next weekend end middle of next week. We'll see what we get!

[Totti-Amun]

Friday, 10 November 2006

The forecasts here are giving us really a hard time, out of nothing we get a nearly 30 knots forecast for the next two days. Decision will be taken tomorrow morning for the sandbar or the salinas. The sandbar was prepared today with another course, which might give some extra speed, so lets see what we get in the end!

[Totti-Amun]

Saturday, 11 November 2006

Everything was ready on the sandbar and for a quick move down to the salinas today if the winddirection and strength would be right... but all we got was a slightly breeze in the evening. Perhaps the 10 knots that we were missing today are coming tomorrow in addition to the 23 that are forecasted...

[Totti-Amun]

Sunday, 12 November 2006

Not enough wind to break any records, but a nice training session for all the guys. Best speed from Hennie again with nearly 39 knots in 20 knots average wind. Impressive ratio so far!

The kiters session was won by Rob Munro with over 37 knots, and Maaike Kallenborn did nearly 33 knots in that low wind conditions.

The forecast for the next days is not looking so good, but we learned in the last few weeks not to be surprised if the forecast is wrong. So we still have hope!

[Totti-Amun]

20 knots of wind gave a nice training session today. As soon as the course was closed, the wind started to blow with more than 30 knots - but only for 10 minutes. Until the riders were back to the start, it dropped already again, so we "only" got a 40 knots maximum today. Here are the speeds:

Henni 40.08 knots
Thomas 38.24 knots
Nick 38.00 knots
Nigel 36.40 knots
Alain 36.21 knots
Alessandro 35.94 knots
Rob 34.98 knots
Maaike 34.43 knots
Darren 35.34 knots
Frank 34.24 knots
Christian 34.19 knots
Henrik 32.78 knots
Juergen 32.67 knots
Manu 32.67 knots
John 31.77 knots

The next days are looking again not so good, but we learned in the last 5 weeks to give a shit on the forecast ! So there is still hope for the remaining week of competition.

[Totti-Amun]

Still waiting

One week to go, and we are still not getting the wind that we need to beat new records. All day it is enough for good sailing, but not for really record breaking action.

But - one week to go, and a lot can happen!

[Totti-Amun]

Von: Nikos Vardalaxos

HELLO EVERYONE,

yesterday 20th of november we had a new greek record on the 500m. course!!!!

40.41 kts!!

now the greek record is a serious one..

best regards,

Nick Vardalachos, GR 800

Herzlichen Glückwunsch!! :)
Hat es den richtigen getroffen, Nick ist ein Netter!! :) :)

[Totti-Amun]

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

The weather surprised us again with a nice 25 knots average day and a good angle on the sandbar, giving some more sailors the possibility to join the 40 knots club.

Alain de Gendt set a new Belgium record, closely reaching the appropriate margin with 40.15 knots on his production Missile XS. Nick Vardalachos improved his own Greek record, set just two weeks ago, to 40.41 knots. Also new in the 40 knots club is Frank Stein from Namibia with 40.41 knots.

Maaike Kallenborn achieved a new personal best with 36.48 knots but unluckily missed the appropriate margin to get it accepted as a new womens production board record, so her record is still standing at 36.45 knots.

All records are subject to WSSRC ratification.

Full results from yesterday:
Alessandro: 40.92 knots
Nick: 40.41 knots
Frank: 40.41 knots
Alain: 40.15 knots
Thomas: 39.81 knots
Nigel: 39.42 knots
Christian: 39.11 knots
Manu: 39.04 knots
Rob: 38.00 knots
Juergen: 37.53 knots
Maaike: 36.48 knots

The forecast is still not looking good, but as it changes permanently we have still hope for the remaining few days. Stay tuned!

[Totti-Amun]

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

As the wind seems to blow from the right direction in the salinas only during night at the moment, we gave it a try yesterday and went out for a night session. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and totally finsterness came to early. One more hour of light would have enabled us to do some serious speeds, but so far we got only a good 39 knots in 6 runs.

But the salinas prooved that they work in the right wind conditions, unfortunately the record attempt period ends tomorrow and there is not much hope to get some extra records.

But anyway, the result of the event is quite impressive, with five world records and 19 national records broken. Almost all of the riders set new personal best speeds on both the nautical mile and the 500m strip.

Perhaps we get a last session in tomorrow before we pack our stuff and everyone is heading home!

[Totti-Amun]

The 2006 record attempt is over!


Everyone is back home now, recovering from the challenges of the past few weeks. The 2006 record attempt is over!

Although we missed the big goal to break the 50 knots barrier, this event was extremly successful, with three world records broken, another two production world records, 19 national records and 14 personal best speeds achieved over the distances of 500m and the nautical mile.

All record claims are now forwarded to the WSSRC for ratification.

A full report will be published later on.

[Totti-Amun]

Walvis Bay, Namibia

Speedsailing World Record Attempt Walvis Bay 2006

It was again a great month for speedsailing in Walvis Bay, with three world records and 17 national records broken!

Following the famous Walvis Bay Speedweek, which serverd again as the final event of the ISA Speedsurfing Grand Prix Tour, the courses over 500m and the nautical mile were re-opened for 20 competitors from 12 nations. Alongside breaking new records, the big goal was the chase for the 50 knots barrier, which is THE magical number in speedsailing all around the world.

Although this big goal was not reached, nearly everybody went back home with a new record or at least a new pesonal best.

Big expectations have been set into these four weeks from the 26th of October until the 23rd of November, especially because of the lack of wind during the two weeks before the start of the record attempt. The last big winds were reported from beginning of October, when local Kiteboarder Juergen Geiger unofficially went down the 500m strip with 44 knots, more than two knots faster than the existing kitespeed world record.

But this is part of the game; almost no wind during the speedweek, allowing for only one valid round, and the waiting game continued just with the official start of the record attempt.

During the first days, the new 500m strip in the "salinas", a big saltwater pond belonging to the Walvis Bay Salt Refiners, one of the worlds biggest sea salt producers, was inspected and some additional adjustments on the course were made. Due to the fact that this course is only intended to work in strong winds with southerly directions, the hope to use this course during the next days was only marginal, as the weather forecast only predicted winds between 20 and 25 knots.

So the focus of the competitors was turned to the natural sandbar again, to attack the existing nautical mile records. The course was already setup and everything was ready for the first winds hitting Walvis Bay.

First competition day was the 30th of October then, with winds around 25 knots average. Already enough for speeds almost reaching 40 knots; not enough for a new world record, but Morten Knutsen (NOR, JP, Neil Pryde) and Alain de Gendt (BEL, F2, North) set new national records for their countries.
Nine more national records were broken on this day, but it shouldn't be the last day on the mile course!

The next day brought again wind conditions around 25 knots average, but a better angle of the wind and spring low tide in the late afternoon, which gave a perfect arena for the mile again. The speeds increased during the whole day, seeing Hennie Bredenkamp (RSA, Fanatic, Naish) in the lead almost all of the time. Hennie was the first person ever clocking a speed over 40 knots over the mile, and he did it several times. The only rider able to follow him was Bjorn Dunkerbeck (ESP, T1, North), and both of them were clocking speeds around 40.3 knots, with Hennie always closely in the lead. Both Hennie and Bjorn were riding prodcution boards, available for everyone in shops worldwide.

At 10 minutes to five Bjorn changed back to his custom speedboards, and at 17:03 he was flying down the course with a speed of 41.14 knots, more than one knot over the previous record and the only person ever over 41 knots on this distance. Hennie is keeping the credentials to be the first man ever over 40 knots, and now holding the production world record.

For the womens record it was a close battle between Zara Davis (GBR, T1, Gaastra) and Maaike Kallenborn (NED, F2, Naish). Both ladies were beating the old record by far, and in the end Zara was a little bit faster on her custom Thommen than Maaike on production F2 Missile XS. So zara snatched the outright record, but Maaike can take comfort with the production world record.

The four participating Kitesurfers also battled for a new world record, seeing Rob Munro (GBR, Naish, Cape Doctor) in the lead in front of Nigel Bowley (GBR, Naish) by only 0.07 knots, and both faster than the old record. Juergen Geiger (NAM, North) and Manu Taub (FRA, Naish, EXA) also set new personal bests, but were not able to follow the british guys on that day.

Most of the national records set the day before were broken again, partly beating the old speeds by far. Franz Grabner (AUT, F2, Neil Pryde), Thomas Doeblin (GER, Fanatic, GunSails), Alessandro Comerlati (ITA, F2, Gaastra), Frank Stein (NAM, F2, North), Dave White (GBR, Tabou, Gaastra) and Nick Vardalachos (GRE, T1, North) all set national records, Henrik Klagges (Ger, F2, Gaastra, already the day before), Christian Bornemann (GER, T1, Neil Pryde), John Benamati (ITA, F2, North), Darren Barker (GBR, Starboard, Naish) improved their own personal best speeds also by far.

As the weather forecast was still predicting only low winds, the call was again for the sandbar, this time for the 500m course. The salinas were still on hold for the big days everybody hoped for.

The 500m course was opened then from the 2nd to the 4th of November, with the best day on the 3rd. The wind again averaging 25 knots, gusting 35, which means normally a "normal day" in Walvis bay. Unfortunately, this year it was one of the strongest days in the whole record attempt period.

The weather pattern was generally quite strange for this time of the year, which is normally the best wind period. With winds reaching 25 knots average every second day and 35 knots average at least once per week, this would have been the time to break records, and with the strong winds turning very southerly the salinas with a shifted angle of 45 degree compared to the sandbar would have been perfect. But the wind flow was very westerly during the complete month, due to heavy rainfall in the desert which confused the whole weather system. So we had to take what we were presented, but luckily this strong westerly influence allowed for good conditions on the sandbar.

On the 500m course, the wind was never strong enough to endanger the existing records, but perfect for training and several national records. Zara Davis, Nigel Bowley (with 41.38 knots the second fastest kite speed ever, and close to the world record) and Morten Knutsen were able to improve the national records, and several personal best speeds were reached by the other competitors.

The top speed of this period was set by Dave White, who was able to beat both of his biggest opponents in this event, Bjorn Dunkerbeck and Hennie Bredenkamp. 42.91 knots is the fastest speed ever achieved on a production board in open water and quite impressive for the prevailing wind conditions.

Then the waiting game began again, and it should be a long period this time... The competitors enjoyed themselves in the meantime with some low wind freesailing, paragliding, shark fishing etc. But after a while, all these alternative activities become boring, and everybody was keen to go on the water again.

After two weeks of waiting with only some training sessions, the wind kicked in again surprisingly on the 20th of November, when nearly everyone already lost his hope. Again only 25 knots average, but the course was moved up by 50m due to the experiences from the racing days before. A lot of GPS analyzing was done in the mean time and the course reset to a different place, of course properly surveyed. Depending on the tidal conditions, five different 500m courses are now available on the Walvis Bay Speedstrip.

The new course delivered some more national records, and Frank Stein, Alain de Gendt and Nick Vardalachos all set new national records, and all of them joined the 40 knots club.

Although everybody was ready for another go, even during the night hours for an attempt in the salinas, this was the last windy day of this period, and on the afternoon of the 23rd of November all the equipment was packed and shipped back to Windhoek for the return flights.

Even if the salinas did not work under the prevailing circumstances this year and therefore the chance to break the 50 knots barrier was not given during this months period, the 2006 Walvis Bay Speedsailing Record Attempt was one of the most successful events in Speedsailing history.

Next year we will be back, and without the almost total lack of suitable wind we will attack the 50 knots again!

(All record claims are subject to WSSRC ratification)

.....

[Totti-Amun]

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[Totti-Amun]

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[Totti-Amun]

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[Totti-Amun]

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