Luderitz--Speed Challenge 2014

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Created by

hooray > 9 months ago, 9 Oct 2014

Jas71

QLD

384 posts

20 Oct 2014 12:01pm

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sailquik said..

sick_em_rex said..
I'm not sure if that's tongue in cheek or not Mathew but I have been thinking similar things....What about artificially placing beds of weed under the surface down the course (a la Lake George) so as to flatten off the water....
I know it is all a question of safety and of course money but could they install drainage trenches on the leeward side of the course which then gets pumped back into the trench at some point or points along it so as to hopefully stop some of the chop and backwash build up? I guess something like an infinity pool edge.... On the subject of pools what about the lane markers in Olympic pools along the course also. Aside from dividing the lanes in a pool they are also designed to absorb the swash from a swimmer. I know you are then potentially introducing something to get tangled up in/on but considering the size of the canal in Luderitz it could be right up agsint the edge and only robbing the sailors of half a foot or so.

I was thinking along the same lines, but using artificial 'grass', or plastic fronds in mats. They would not have to be continuous, they could be just sections of a couple of meters every 10-20 meters. I think that would kill the rolling chop very effectively.

There was one day last year, and Lena's post above shows the same this year, where the wind was another 5-10 deg broader and the chop was horrendous. It might be possible to go even faster if the chop was neutralized. When the wind is super strong, the limiting factor to how broad you can go is the water state. At Luderitz that changed dramatically for the worse over 135-140 degrees off the wind!

Each year after Luderitz finishes is the channel filled in, by man or nature ie big tides? As artificial would be the only way if the channel is filled in, this way it could be removed till next year.

sailquik

VIC

6166 posts

21 Oct 2014 4:35pm

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Jas71 said..
Each year after Luderitz finishes is the channel filled in, by man or nature ie big tides? As artificial would be the only way if the channel is filled in, this way it could be removed till next year.

The channel is simply left there and my understanding is that it gradually silts up with wind blown sand and maybe king tides. I think one reason Seb is so keen to keep the big pile of dirt on the lee side is to stop too much damage from high tides. There was some video on Facebook somewhere just before this years event showing Seb standing in the canal guiding the earthmover as it dug it out again. I recon if you took a trip there in November - February you would have a pretty good channel all to yourself. You would just need a mate to run you and your gear back to the start.

But yes, any artificial chop killers would have to be removed and stored between events.

Lessacher

89 posts

31 Oct 2014 2:16am

German record with Christian Bornemann 48,82 knots, Bielak 48,12 knots. Wolfgang

sailquik

VIC

6166 posts

3 Nov 2014 11:53am

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Lessacher said..
German record with Christian Bornemann 48,82 knots, Bielak 48,12 knots. Wolfgang

Thats very special from both those guys!

Here is an interview with two of my all time hero's. Eric Beale because he was the first to break the 40 knots and he is only just over 70 Kilos (My weight and height when I was fitter). This was a great inspiration to me as I saw it was possible for a smaller guy to go fast. Thierry Bielak because he was the speed superstar of his era, repeatedly raising the world record to new amazing heights.

Jas71

QLD

384 posts

3 Nov 2014 11:15am

Thats a grate interview, so it was Mal Wright that broke Christin's record, is that correct?

sailquik

VIC

6166 posts

3 Nov 2014 12:47pm

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Jas71 said..
Thats a great interview, so it was Mal Wright that broke Christin's record, is that correct?

I don't think Mal held any outright records but at the first event on the French canal in the late '80's, Mal won with a speed of just over 38 knots. He topped all the Euro speed starts of the day!

A year later he did a 250m speed of over 41 knots at Sandy Point! The world record at that time for 500m was Eriks I think, but that was over 500m.

choco

4177 posts

3 Nov 2014 12:41pm

I thought Eric Beale was a Pom or did he swallow a frog?

Te Hau

495 posts

3 Nov 2014 2:03pm

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sailquik said..

Jas71 said..
Thats a great interview, so it was Mal Wright that broke Christin's record, is that correct?

I don't think Mal held any outright records but at the first event on the French canal in the late '80's, Mal won with a speed of just over 38 knots. He topped all the Euro speed starts of the day!

A year later he did a 250m speed of over 41 knots at Sandy Point! The world record at that time for 500m was Eriks I think, but that was over 500m.

What happened to Mal Wright?

kato

VIC

3513 posts

3 Nov 2014 8:59pm

Still around, just not sailing. I do hope that he will come back soon as the sport is a little poorer without him

Lessacher

89 posts

4 Nov 2014 12:40am

The Belgian ,some from Netherland and some out Germany were some years in Saintes Marie ...... at the channel. When Bielak
came back to the start ,we made place for him, he was and he is a spots man. To Beale can I say nothing. Wolfgang

Lessacher

89 posts

4 Nov 2014 1:00am

I looked the Video from Baldini. He is surfing 10° to the right, not to the finish. There my new fins are 7mm thin, have I 9mm place in the base to work the blade so that she is in front on the right side ,the trailing edge on the left side, the boards looks more to the left, to the finish,the fin work how always The board is not such a big brake. Wolfgang

Bonominator

VIC

5477 posts

5 Nov 2014 2:37pm

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kato said..
Still around, just not sailing. I do hope that he will come back soon as the sport is a little poorer without him

Agreed. Life's many distractions!

sailquik

VIC

6166 posts

5 Nov 2014 5:22pm

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choco said..
I thought Eric Beale was a Pom or did he swallow a frog?

Erik Beale is British. He had obviously spent quite some time in France to be such a fluent French speaker, but I understand he now lives in Hawaii.

Spotty

VIC

1619 posts

5 Nov 2014 7:37pm

plettil

64 posts

9 Nov 2014 4:40am

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sailquik said..

choco said..
I thought Eric Beale was a Pom or did he swallow a frog?

Erik Beale is British. He had obviously spent quite some time in France to be such a fluent French speaker, but I understand he now lives in Hawaii.

His parents are french and British. He lived his youth in England and in France.

sailquik

VIC

6166 posts

13 Nov 2014 1:51am

Missed it!

Jas71

QLD

384 posts

13 Nov 2014 9:47am

there's always next year

Roo

878 posts

19 Nov 2014 3:49am

They could always build a ditch in someplace that's easily accessible, blows like stink and is close to civilization. A place like the Gorge!

These are the wind readings for the last 7 days, pretty typical for autumn here. www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=218&siteID=6297&Isection=Last+7+Days

Roo

sausage

QLD

4873 posts

19 Nov 2014 9:52am

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Roo said..
They could always build a ditch in someplace that's easily accessible, blows like stink and is close to civilization. A place like the Gorge!

These are the wind readings for the last 7 days, pretty typical for autumn here. www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=218&siteID=6297&Isection=Last+7+Days

Roo

Great idea Roo although like Australia I suspect the US of A would have the same environmental hoops and hurdles (enviro impact statements etc) that would cruel it. I suspect in Namibia the organiser just rocks up to the local authority and tells them that he's going to dig a big trench out there on the mud flats and it'll bring heaps of dollars to the town.

fitz66

QLD

575 posts

22 Nov 2014 7:14am

Hey Sausage, digging a canal in Oz is easy, just send a letter to Mr Abbott saying you want to look for a coal seam and bobs your uncle.

Spotty

VIC

1619 posts

6 Dec 2014 10:35am

#t=434

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