Antoine Albeau set a new record of 49.41 knots at the Speed Challenge in Luderitz, improving his previous record of 49.09, set in 2008.

The speed machine from France just arrived at the channel and impressed the whole speedsailing scene immediately.

 

“Arriving only two days ago, Antoine Albeau didn’t take long to get in his stride. Low wind prevented any good runs on Tuesday but on Wednesday, the wind picked up and Albeau superseded his best time from 4 years ago. Record is pending approval by the WSSRC.” (Neil Pryde Press)

 

Now the Slalom worldchampion 2012 is focused to break the 50 knots barrier during the upcoming weeks. And he has some strong opponents like Cedric Bordes, who eliminated Antoine´s old record of 49,09 knots. Anders Bringdal is as well able to reach teh 50 knots as he is really focused on the project at Luderitz.

 

Antoine on the record day at Luderitz (Pic: NeilPryde).

 

 

C7: How was it going during your record day, easier than expected or are you on top form right now?

AA: I think I am in good shape to do the speed record, but the place is really good, quite difficult to enter the run and can be really dangerous because it is narrow and not

so deep on some places. The finish is quite scary as well because we  only have100m to stop in shallow water!!

 

C7: Which gear were you on over the day?

AA: I had my production Neilpryde Evo4 5.8,  a custom board RRD and a MXR fin.

 

C7: Is the gear now much different to what you used in France, when you set the 49,09 km/h?

AA: Yes, it was much bigger, for example the sail I used in France for my old record was a 4.8 m Neilpryde.

 

C7: Is it scary to have runs with 90 km/h on a 8 m wide channel?

AA: 8m at the widest and 4.5 m at the most narrow part of the channel.  Yes, it´s really scary, especially during the first runs.

 

C7: Did you feel tired after driving more than 1500 km up to Namibia from Cape Town?

AA: It is 1300km only! I am used to drive and the landscape is unbelieveable in SA and Nambia. I had one day of rest before going on the channel.

 

C7: Are you fully focused on speed sailing at Namibia or will there be som e time for wavesailing or surfing?

AA: I brought some wave kit and SUPs as well for the no wind days. I will be looking for new spots arround Luderitz!!

But the local said that there are a lot of big fishes arround here!!! We went to the Atlantic coast already and saw lot of sea lions and dolphins!!

 

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