Less than a second

Steve Bodner provides the following report on some of the activitiy in the speed sailing community:

The latest speed record attempts on January 3rd at the speed canal in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France raised an issue that is more than just a little bit interesting, regarding the fact that the faster the speeds get, the smaller the actual intervals between the leading riders!

Let's explain that in numbers: actually achieving 50 knots of speed would give you a time for covering the 500 metre distance of 19 seconds and 440 hundredths. The current record, held by Finian Maynard (48.70) equates to a run time of 19.955 seconds, and kitesurfer Alex Caizergues' speed (47.92) a run time of 20.283 seconds, leaving 3rd fastest all-time man Antoine Albeau (47.69) a run time of 20.380 seconds…

To put that in perspective, it means that Albeau is just 1 second off 50 knot speed, but, closer still, there's only just a tenth of a second between Albeau and Caizergues! And with his 48.70 knots Finian Maynard is just half a second off 50 knot pace. Which all goes to say that, it all comes down to fractions and that the last few tenths to the record will also be the hardest to achieve!

Meanwhile the Hydroptere team has been in the Marseille area since January 1st looking for suitable spots for their own speed record attempt. They finally decided on Port-St-Louis-du-Rhone (PSL), not much more than a stone's throw from Saintes, as the most appropriate spot for the famous foil boat to set up camp, a spot that Bjorn Dunkerbeck also used recently for his private/invite only record attempt. Still in the workshops in the process of being reconfigured for pure speed, the Hydroptere team could be ready for its attempt as early as March, with one single aim in mind, that of smashing the legendary 50 knot barrier!

Source : windsurfingjournal.com
Source : Christophe Simian/Masters of Speed
Source : Hydroptere.com