Antoine Albeau set a new 500 meter record today; I guess they're still trying to figure out whether it was enough of a margin over Finian Maynard's previous performance to ratify it as a new world record. It's definitely another step closer to the 50 knot barrier. Forecast for tomorrow is apparently good as well, so follow the action at Windsurf Journal's live event ticker. Damn, that's fast...
Looks like the kiters have done it - that's Tillman Heinig running well over 50 knots over 500m according to his GPS (so no, it's not a WSSRC-sanctioned record). There's some discussion in the community, with Finian Maynard pointing out that the run was over a curved course, and that the projected 500m speed was a little below 50 knots - oh well. Even so, I'm still very impressed by this; as somebody points out in that thread, when you have a running race, you don't account for turns, you only care about time over distance run, and in this case, 500m were covered at over 50 knots.
But check out that video a bit more closely - Tillman is going at warp speed in just a few inches of water, right next to shore; that takes some major balls. Good on him for making it happen for himself. I wish it had been a windsurfer, but hey, whether it's a kiter or a foiling tri or a windsurfer, I'm still stoked about it.
The next chance to officially break the all-out record and get over 50 knots, however, presents itself to a bunch of windsurfers: Driven by Wind, Dave White's even in South England, is looking at a spectacular forecast for tomorrow, Thursday. If that materializes, and if all the stars line up right, there's a pretty good chance one or more of those sailors will bag 50+ over 500 (on a straight course, with WSSRC observers and sanctioned video timing). Good luck, guys!
