Wow. Looks like everything aligned for the big man! 54 would make 100km/h...

The canal looks so much better than it did a few weeks ago when the tea-baggers were there. More water. Flatter earth both sides.

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John340 said..

sailquik said..
Manfred Meles number is on the list and he had permission from the organisers to run but Christian Bornmann protested and he was prevented from running.

I think that is disgraceful! The politics of money and privilege rule again. This again confirms my opinion that the WSSRC is set up to cater for money and privilege and the rules are geared towards protecting those who have it. IMO, that is not Sport.

Excuse my ignorance, but who is Christain Bornmann and why does he have influence?

When you enter you pay from Monday to Sunday and some competitors arrive early or stay additional days so you need permission from the organisers to run those extra days. I can only assume Manfred's entry had expired and as the forecast for Monday was so good it was also put to a riders vote.

Are there any speed kite surfers at the event this year? If so, what speeds did they achieve on the 2nd?

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HF said..

John340 said..

sailquik said..
Manfred Meles number is on the list and he had permission from the organisers to run but Christian Bornmann protested and he was prevented from running.

I think that is disgraceful! The politics of money and privilege rule again. This again confirms my opinion that the WSSRC is set up to cater for money and privilege and the rules are geared towards protecting those who have it. IMO, that is not Sport.

Excuse my ignorance, but who is Christain Bornmann and why does he have influence?

When you enter you pay from Monday to Sunday and some competitors arrive early or stay additional days so you need permission from the organisers to run those extra days. I can only assume Manfred's entry had expired and as the forecast for Monday was so good it was also put to a riders vote.

Christian broke the German 500m record last week.

Kind of, he was given an extra 4 days by the organisers because they could not sail the canal the first week they had paid for. A few others got this also. He had permission from organisers to stay and sail an extra week and booked hotel and flights etc. On the morning, Christian turned up and protested snd told him he could not run. Some other sailors backed him up on that. Something to do with maximum of 15 riders being guaranteed by the organisers and he was not booked by the WSSRC for that week.

My opinion is that if he had permission to run from the organiser, he should have just run and to hell with them. If the WSSRC would not ratify his speeds after, so what? If he went after than Christians German record, bad luck. It would have been a hollow record anyhow.

It's not like they were queueing up to run! And two sailors, 62 and 1 didn't sail anyhow.

That really makes for quite sad reading, to read the thread and getting excited to see records fall to then hear that is quite deflating,
I take it there both German? So manfred poor sod turns up and can't sail or there's no wind whatever, then the other turns up to record beating conditions snaffles the record then protects it??
Record or no record the cost to manfred for extending his trip to then be told nah sorry mate is just wrong as my mate puts it 'it goes against the whole ethos of windsurfing!'

Sorry if this is in bad taste but I would found his wetsuit and cut the arse cheeks out

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sailquik said..
Here is the run results for the day. I am amazed at how many run A2 made!

Also a bit surprised that some others made so few runs.

I've filled in the rider names and craft from the list above on the World Record Day

Poor Patrik - he just needs A2 to not turn up one day, and he could be the world record holder

was told at the beach today that A2 had so many runs because he was using his own van to get back to the start line.

Absolutely no idea if it's true, his van and girlfriend are there though...

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seanhogan said..
was told at the beach today that A2 had so many runs because he was using his own van to get back to the start line.

Absolutely no idea if it's true, his van and girlfriend are there though...

He certainly does Sean, super professional. I think patrik does as well this year, the trailer is slow waiting others to pick up.

Solid result, effort and reward for Antoine, and others that have returned each year and done their time, impressive!!!. If A2's crash is anything to go by it just shows how tough it is at times to get down the canal when it's on. His ability and strength to launch quickly/smoothly to ensure good acceleration and high entry speed at the bend where you get hit by another 10-15knot gust/wind speed, def'n helps to get his av' speed up at the start gate. Timing plays a part, and so does smashing out as many runs as possible to increase your chances to get a good solid smooth 500m run where wind and water state do their thing while you just hold it together.

Looking at A2's numbers he was really smashing it out in the 52.5-53 range, the 102Kph peak a suitable reward, without doubt a great speedsailing performance!!!

Getting yourself and gear dialed in there for 50+ is not as easy as it may look. A2's description of his run's that were super hard with the all the sand making it difficult to see where he was going remind us of 2009 at Sandy Pt where seeing where the sand met the water was difficult. Having spent a month in Ludz' with these guy's was a great experience, plenty of help and insight into their pilgrimage and the challenge the Luderitz can be.

Good to see Patrick improving hot on A2's heals and Farrel finally getting rewarded, really funny guy full of dry wit and definitely being waiting to have his day on the canal all come together. Would of liked to see Hans K' battle it out with recent performance this year, he busted out on his first visit in 2013 and adapted quickly with his style to give Patrick, A2, Anders a nudge.



Rokin' Rola Farrel...

hahaha, farrel, so humble. "i'm just here to do my thing for the common sailor...it just shows somewhere there's hope for everybody"
What a legend.

And now now some footage of what I felt but narrowly avoided, fin gets loose, you back off and start drifting towards leeward bank, thinking Oh F', F', F', Faaaaaaaaarr,......please fin grab real soon before I get pumelled into the sand grit.

Least Mitch Wags' & A2 managed to get some skips and bounces in, you want to avoid the dead stop by all accounts, and please where a helmet when it's nuking like that!!!

Chris B' charging by the look of it as well just like the time when he took the wheel of Han's K vehicle to save us and it from the clutches of the massive dunes of the Naama desert, the poor old clutch took a hiding real bad.

Wow those crashes were scary!!

BD did not do that well considering in open ocean waters he is likely the second fastest sailor there.

Ten percent slower than A2 is a huge amount!

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petermac33 said..
BD did not do that well considering in open ocean waters he is likely the second fastest sailor there.

Ten percent slower than A2 is a huge amount!

Well, you have to make some allowance that this was his first day there. Even for the experienced canal sailors, this was very daunting conditions to throw yourself into on the first day!

What does A2 weigh, does he wear a weight belt ?

around 100 kg... and yes he carries extra weight

Reckon his Jatz Crackers would take up about 10 kegs of that!!

I don't think any of the sailors went without any extra weight in their vests in 2013. I don't think anything will have changed. One of the locals made a nice sideline out of renting 7 to 10KG moulded slabs of recycled lead to the participants.

speed hurts

sacre bleu!

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seanhogan said..
speed hurts

^^^ Video of this stack??

Please...

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AUS1111 said..
^^^ Video of this stack??

Please...

Confiscated by the FBI and filed deep in a vault with this sensitive material