GUST Magazine

The 4th Lüderitz Speed Challenge: World Record Attempt in Speed Sailing

Debbie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:44:02 +0000

After 3 successful events, The Lüderitz Speed Challenge has earned its credibility and made its mark in the World of Speed Sailing. In 2010, for the first time in the history of Speed Sailing, all 3 of the sailing disciplines (windsurfing, kitesurfing and hydrofoils) will jointly compete in the same event for the coveted title of the “Fastest sailing vessel”.

In 2004 Sébastien Cattelan together with Sophie Routaboul, co-organiser of the event, discovered the now legendary speed location in Luderitz. This natural lagoon in the Namib Desert has all the qualities to become the top international speed sailing venue in the world. The warm desert winds accelerate through the surrounding hills and on reaching the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, thermal atmospheric pressure creates incredibly high wind speeds.

3 Oct 2008, Luderitz Bay, Namibia: French kite surfer Sebastien Cattelan was the first person to break the mythical 50 knots sailing barrier (+ 90 km/h over 500m averages).

Speed Sailing has become an international inter-disciplinary sport. For many years an ongoing challenge existed between windsurfers, hydrofoil boats and kitesurfers to smash records - capturing the imagination of the media in a battle where speed barriers are constantly being broken.

So what’s in store for 2010?
The favorable results of the previous year which offered a tempestuous run for our sportsmen recording upwards of 90 km/ph on a 20-50cm deep, 500m long and 2m wide canal, has initiated continual improvement of the speed strip. In 2010, conditions for navigation have been improved by way of a more efficient canal of 10m of wide, 700m long, with a depth of 1m.

The aim this year is to widen the canal at the start as much as possible, making entry much easier. The sand taken from the canal will be laid up wind, creating a wall for protection against chop created in the water at high tide. The canal will have sufficient water depth to conform to the WSSRC rule (15cm minimum throughout) and even at low tide when the water recedes, the canal will remain at least 50cm deep throughout the run. These increased proportions of the canal will result in greater safety compared to the previous wooden chop killer.

The 2010 Luderitz Speed Challenge promises to be the most hotly contested competition held in the history of Speed Sailing.

Source: Sébastien Cattelan and Sophie Routaboul

Click here to visit Luderitz Speed Challenge’s website.

And what does speed sailing mean for the environment? (saving the world, one speed record at a time!)

Debbie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:43:30 +0000

Says Sebastien Cattelan: “Using natural energy, has consequences for you, for us …
These performances represent what is possible in the future using energy from nothing but what nature provides.Wind-driven sailing vessels are once again becoming the pioneers in maritime transportation, and kite makers have been approached by forward-thinking commercial boat owners to design huge kites to experiment with the concept of using wind power to help drive large cargo vessels.

In theory, the kiteboard is replaced by a huge vessel, however the principle is the same. This development would result in huge cuts in the consumption of fuel, reduce oil spills and the overall cost of transportation costs world-wide.
We have entered a point in history where innovative ideas from nature will help to contribute to the protection of our planet”.
What a cool thought! (where’s the ‘Like’ button?)

Source: Sébastien Cattelan cattelan.sebastien@gmail.com and Sophie Routaboul so.event@live.fr
Click here to visit Luderitz Speed Challenge’s website.

Luderitz Speed Challenge: a bit of history.

Debbie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:20:39 +0000

With the 2010 Luderitz Speed Challenge just around the corner, here’s a bit of history around successive improvements in performances at Luderitz between 2007 when the event started, to what we can expect in 2010.

In 2007 the first Lüderitz Speed Challenge was held and existing speed sailing records were broken by kitesurfers. The 2nd fastest time in speed sailing ever was recorded - 1st place was held by windsurfer Finian Meynard from the Virgin Islands.

The second event, in 2008, saw kitesurfers break all existing speed sailing records and officially become the fastest sailors in the world - for the first time smashing the mythical 50 knots in World Speed Sailing. Changes were made to the course - a ‘chop killer’ (i.e. a wooden barrier) helped improve the 500m water surface to ensure a smoother slide and increase the wind speed angle, resulting in increased performance and new maximum speeds being reached:

2007: 47.77 knots over 500m averages
2008: 50.57 knots over 500m averages.

In November 2009, Luderitz saw even more innovative planning:
The organisers created a canal alongside the existing 500m speed strip to ensure flat water and a better wind speed. This decision was made in order to challenge the new speed sailing record of the Hydrofoil « L’HYDROPTERE » of 51.36 knots (95km/h over 500m averages), which was set one month prior to the 2009 Luderitz event.

Recently, a GPS (tool of measure) world record of 53.06 knots (98km/h over 500m averages) has been set in Lüderitz by Sébastien Cattelan. This proves the potential of the 2010 Lüderitz Speed Challenge, which always verifies speeds with the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council), who officiates all speed world attempts: On the way to 54 knots - the new world challenge to break the 100km/h barrier!

Source: Sébastien cattelan & Sophie Routaboul
Click here to visit Luderitz Speed Challenge’s website.

KB4Girls Targeting female kiters in all of Scandinavia

Debbie — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:19:14 +0000

TAMPA/LONDON/BERLIN, July, 20th 2010: While Scandinavia is known for its rugged beauty and its great snow in the wintertime it is also known for producing great female competitors in the kiteboarding world – just one of many reasons for KB4girls to target female kiters in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland from August 27-29.

With local rippers Anki Knutsson and Anna Sparre, the KB4girls team around world champion Kristin Boese will have the best possible support to reach out to the girls in Scandinavia and to teach them new skills.

Anki Knutsson says: “I have known Kristin for almost seven years. We have travelled on the PKRA tour together and spent many off-seasons in the same places. To get together with her to organise the KB4girls event in my home country is very special for me. It’s really an inspiration to be able to ride with other girls who push themselves and who understand each other. I really want to share this with the girls back home even if it is just for one weekend. “

The Oeresund Sound will be the perfect location for the KB4girls event since it offers a huge bay with many different spots for different wind directions but also shallow water for easy learning. Based at a camp ground the girls will drive to wherever the conditions in the bay are best and practise new moves under the instructions of Anki, Anna and Kristin all weekend.

Upcoming KB4girls events:

Fischland, Germany: August 20-22, 2010
Malmo, Sweden: August 28-29, 2010
Hood River, USA: September 4, 2010
Montauk/NY, USA: September 24-26, 2010
Lancing, UK: October 8-10, 2010

Constantly Kiting: Kitesurfing and Surfing School

Debbie — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:36:44 +0000

Wesley Fourie - Constantly Kiting’s Frontman - also happens to be our very own Gustmagazine.com Kitesurfing Technique Advisor!

Contact him for Kitesurfing or surfing lessons: info@constantlykiting.com or 073 071 3878.

Endless Summer - kitesurf, windsurf, surf, SUP & Paraglide Beach House

Debbie — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:32:50 +0000

For kitesurfing & SUP lessons, as well as accomodation.

Visit their site

Endless Summer: SUP Lessons

Debbie — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:09:08 +0000

Endless Summer Beach House: For SUP Lessons, Kiting, accomodation and webcam views of Kite Beach. Click Here to visit their site.

Surfcenter Wustrow takes KB4girls back to its roots

Debbie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:24:44 +0000

TAMPA/PRETORIA,BERLIN: World Champion Kristin Boese is set to hold her camp for female kiteboarders at Fischland/Darss in Germany from August 20 – 21, 2010.

Kristin’s original idea behind organising this annual event was to support females in the sport, and to motivate them to compete in national and international competitions, which has proved very successful in Germany. Because of its tremendous success and dramatically growing demand the event also resulted in the idea to launch the KB4girls world tour.

With KB4girls launching at the beginning of 2010, the destination now also becomes a KB4girls tour stop and will be a very special event in the calendar of the tour. Not only because it represents the origin of the tour but also because the venue of Wustrow/Darss is where Kristin first experienced the sport of kiteboarding while working at the Surfcenter Wustrow as a windsurfing instructor.

The Surfcenter Wustrow has also been the main support behind this girls kiteboarding camp since 2003, supplying the event site, free camp sites, food and refreshments.

Kristin Boese says: “The Surfcenter Wustrow is very special to me since it basically is the birth place of my kiting career. To have the support of the guys from the Center means a lot to me since I still feel very connected to the time when I used to work there but also very much enjoy to come back here every year for the event. On top of that the Fischland/Darss offers amazing kiting conditions and is the perfect place for our event.”

Another very special and meaningful collaboration is the one with the “Silke Gorldt Foundation” which was created in honor of the German kiter Silke Gorldt who died in a tragic kite accident in 2002. Silke was a great friend to Kristin and a great motivator for her and inspired her to get into the competition circuit. To keep Silke’s spirit alive in her kiting events is important to Kristin and cooperating with the Silke Gorldt Foundation therefore is a priority too.

With a fully booked clinic and 50 girls attending, the KB4girls event in Germany will be the biggest one of this year’s tour and certainly a very special event to look forward to attending.

Upcoming KB4girls events:

Fischland, Germany: August 20th - 22nd, 2010
Malmo, Sweden: August 28th - 29th, 2010
Hood River, USA: September 4th, 2010
Montauk/NY, USA: September 24th - 26th, 2010
Lancing, UK: October 8th - 10th, 2010

World’s surf stars in PE for autograph session at Surf Centre TONIGHT!

Debbie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:30:50 +0000

A star studded line-up of international and local surf stars will be in PE tonight (16 July) for an autograph signing session at the Surf Centre store in Walmer Park.

Surf fans can expect to meet and mingle with several of the world’s top 45 ranked surfers, who are visiting Jeffreys Bay for the Billabong Pro. They are team riders from multinational apparel and accessories brands Hurley, Oakley and O’Neill, who will be there to sign autographs and memorabilia.

Attending the signing session will be:
Current World No.2 Jordy Smith (Durban) along with Bobby Martinez (USA), Adrian ‘Ace’ Buchan (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA) and PE local Donavan Zoetmulder, Brazilians Adriano de Souza and Jadson Andre, Australians Tom Whittaker and Adam Melling and South Africans Greg Emslie and Shaun Joubert

The function, which starts at 6pm, also provides Eastern Province Surfing with the opportunity to raise funds for their Junior surfing team.

The awesome prizes up for grabs in the raffle include:

O’Neill Psycho 3/2 Wetsuit
Hurley Wetsuit & Accessories
Oakley Fuelcell Sunglasses

Jordy Smith displays his patented aerial attack on the way to an historic victory in the Mr Price Pro Ballito last weekend.

For more information contact:
Dave Lipschitz at Surf Centre
C: 082 322 1150
E: surf@agnet.co.za

KB4girls & Best in search of natural beauties for Best Calendar 2011

Debbie — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:47:47 +0000

Best Kiteboarding and KB4girls are looking to promote the sport of kiteboarding and inspire girls worldwide.

Three winners of the Best Kitesurfing 2011 Best Girls Calendar model search will have the opportunity to hone their skills or to learn how to kiteboard with 9x world champion Kristin Boese.

Best Kiteboarding and KB4girls are reaching out to all women and girls: current kitesurfers and whoever wants to take up the sport. Now is your chance! If you don’t currently kitesurf you can use your looks to break into the sport of kiting!

Three winners will be chosen for a professional photo shoot (with renowned fashion photographer Michael Williams) in the fall during the Annual Best Fest, a 5-day celebration in Brazil, featuring the launch of the new BEST product lineup and demos by the International Team of pro riders.

In order to compete girls must apply online (click here) between 15 June & 15 Aug with their pictures and a brief statement of no more than 50 words, in English, describing why they should win.

Best Kiteboarding is looking for contestants who can capture the spirit of their brand by demonstrating athleticism, commitment to a healthy outdoor lifestyle, and natural beauty.

The photos must include ONE headshot and ONE full body shot of her in a swimsuit. She may submit up to, but no more than, FOUR additional photos of herself as well. If a third party submits photographs on behalf of the person who is chosen as the winner, with her written permission, he or she will earn a free trip to accompany the winner to Brazil and Best Fest.

Final winners will be selected by a panel of experts from both sports and fashion industries late August 2010. Winners will fine tune their riding skills with lessons either at the Best Kiteboarding Center in New York, or with 9X world champion BEST team rider Kristin Boese in her KB4Girls Clinics, or at one of Best’s premier school partners around the world.

For full details and contest rules, visit the site . Stay tuned as submissions will be posted on www.bestkiteboarding.com.