Windsurf Speed Masters of Speed 5 march 08 world record day

[6504013993]

approaching 50 knots that's seriously quick. and without a helmet its seriously stupid.

great fun until shit happens. Better hope there's a good hospital nearby.

[checkstay]

60 foot foil born trimaran touched 61 knots before it pearled 12/21/08.

[robinou43]

i'm not sure but looks like kitesurfers reached these speeds peaks for a while already. And they still own the outright record till now...

[electronick1]

I think that was 47 knots

[Theriomalstrom]

What is "pearled"?

[friendlyflow]

needle on dude

[wildblue2]

That's some high wind. They're pretty much sheeted out the entire way.

I do the b&j thing, windsurfing gives you great TOW and speed in modest conditions, but even Jim Drake admits that 100 km/h is probably the limit of fin tech. Kite users are starting to think about 120 km/h and i think they'll get there before anyone else.

[robinou43]

I think 50 knots can be reached on a windsurf board. This day the trench was way too choppy, there were loads of weeds (check the beginning of the video, wind was really gusty and it was freezing cold. So i'm sure they can do a lot better if they find the "perfect spot", just as kitesurfers did at Luderitz !

[scapegoat18usc3059]

Okay I will find where that is in Mexico thx

[scapegoat18usc3059]

Do you happen to know if anyone in Mexico has broken the 45 mph mark in Windsurfing. I plan on moving there. thx

[robinou43]

i've never heard of any mexican speed sailor, and i don't think any of them ever made an official run over 45 knots. I know B. Dunkerbeck was expecting to go to Oaxaca to do some speed record attempt though.

[scapegoat18usc3059]

Why cant a windsurf record be set in Nambia

[robinou43]

because of the water depth there. windsurf' fins are too deep to go there. but perhaps some other spots would fit windsurfing in Namibia.

[scapegoat18usc3059]

What is the closet speed an American has attained or are there any ?

[robinou43]

i think US record holder is Roddy Lewis in windsurf (44.21 knots), but US kitesurfer Rob Douglas recently beat the outright record with a 49.84 knots run. He then passed 50 knots with a 50,54 knots run. Actual record is 50.57 knots by Frenchman Alex Caizergues. Luderitz in Namibia is the place to break records with kitesurf

[scapegoat18usc3059]

Thx for the answer. It looks he is wearing something extra on his back is that weight or what? What size is the board ? thx

[robinou43]

yeah, this is a weight & flotation jacket. Antoine Albeau used a prototype shaped by C. Fiorentini which was 36 cm wide, and i guess around 230cm long.

Fiorentini then shaped the starboard speedboard series, but i don't think any of them is strictly similar to this prototype.

[scapegoat18usc3059]

These guys are great, really enjoyed these videos. Rob how often does it get this windy at this location. What size sails are some of these guys using ? thx

[robinou43]

Actually south of France use to be windy during winter,this week we had over 40 knots winds.

Mistral (N)is a powerful,cold and gusty wind.

The trench is located in Camargue,few miles away from Rhone's delta,but the wind is less powerfull there than in Port Saint Louis.

So wind is not rare, but a good wind direction for high speeds on the trench is.

The other footage i made was with a SE wind direction,just like for Bielak's record

Albeau's sails was a 4.8m²

Let me know if you want more details

[vanillamiileystar]

march 5 is my birthday but wow! i just put videos added march 5 and i saw this!

[robinou43]

Hey Frida ! well, march 5th was a great day for the windsurf community, though the outright speed sailing record is now held by french kitesurfer Alexandre Caizergues. Perhaps this is a sign and you should learn to windsurf to beat the record again ? who knows ;)

[kinggrzybowski]

fucking kaiter has broken the record

[nofactor]

trop vite, mad rider

congratulations

[windsurf7772]

you are the real champion Antoine

[glaros0]

those crashes look SO painful...scary

[robinou43]

Here is what Antoine Albeau said on Windsurfjournal :

"When that happened I didn't know if I was in Florida, the Ile de Re or on the canal ! I was a bit stunned, I'd broken my harness strop, the harness, the forward boom mounting and I managed to rip the sail head with my feet, all that in one fall. I had a few falls that day but the conditions were completely radical and I was pushing the limits completely to try and give it everything on the run."

[level2789]

Looks like he is surfing on land. WTF?

[robinou43]

They are sailing on a trench that was dug especially for speed sailing purposes, according to the main winds orientation. This is in Saintes MAries de la Mer, in south of France. you can find the position under the "stats and informations" TAB.

[LadyAsiana]

No pain , No Gain

[rosechols]

Don't forget Newman Darby the real inventor of the windsurfer

[adou1269]

C'est quoi le nom de la music ?

joli record

[robinou43]

la musique c'est le groupe Hyèrois SMOOF.

Le titre c'est "Birds Fly", de l'album "Travel in Music" disponible à la FNAC.

ils ont aussi un myspace (smoofagain)

[adou1269]

Merci !

[nicheknack]

Congratulations Antoine! And, thank you Hoyle Schweitzer and Jim Drake for inventing and nurturing the great sport of Windsurfing. I've been Windsurfing for 28 years and still feel the rush every time I go out.

Windsurfers do it standing up!

[kulto1986]

muy bueno la verdad

te sarpadte

un abarzo

[hufton9722]

whayyy formula is better

[greenbull56]

WOOT

just a few days after seeing him in florida for midwinters

gratz Albeau

[LOsurfingVE]

m 2

[suchacem]

i dont get it, wheres the water?? what sort of random geography is this?

[robinou43]

In fact they are sailing on a trench called "Canal des Saintes Maries de la Mer"

type this in google map to see an aerial view of it :

43.461454,+4.465299

[meozzy]

I like the guy towards the end sitting in the channel after a big spill...some guy rushes over 'are you allright?' the guy goes 'YES...but where am I??' LOL!!

Could yopu give music credit please.

[robinou43]

the band is called Smoof.

You can check their myspace page (smoofagain).

If you can't find it, the url is in the video (check the end)

[hicgerekyoktu]

vay amina koyem.adam oldu len

[nilsins]

awesome video. no worries on the quality. insane crashes.

congrats to everyone involved !

[robinou43]

Thank you so much to all of you for your comments, i wish the video had better quality and that i was able to record some other runs, but that's the way it is...

Anyway, congratulations to all the riders, because sailing conditions were pretty hardcore !

[smalleyjw]

This was the windiest day I have ever sailed. I was blown away with Antoine`s committment. Insane. Well done to Farrel and Patrick also. A great day all round. Thanks for the video Rob. Nice memories of the pm session. Well done the event team! Fingers crossed we get some more action this MOS session. K42.

[seamaster24]

amazing!

[jatmega]

great! congratulations from Nor-941

[knkyrider]

bravo Mr Albeau , Beaucoup de respect pour ta vitesse de ouf !!!

a New Caledonian windsurfer

[azf68]

Il est beau, il est beau, l'Albeau, chapeau bas l'artiste...

[chtilaurent]

BRAVO ANTOINE, super record, et sûr que tu auras l'occasion d'encore l'ameliorer !!!!

bientot les 50 !!!!

[Nismo280]

Congrats to Antoine and Patrik!

P.S. Che catapulta Patrik!!!

[gdshgfghfgnjgrht]

Albeau is an animal !!

Congrats ...

[gdshgfghfgnjgrht]

Albeau is an animal !!

Congrats ...

[mcsou59890]

speedsurfing power !! merci tonio .... plus que quelque noeud avant les 50 ;)

[henningbrag]

Congratulaton Antoine and the Starboard Team