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Lüderitz Speed Challenge
The Lüderitz Speed Challenge is an annual speed sailing event, held since 2007 in Lüderitz, Namibia, during the southern hemisphere spring. It is observed by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). The site The event is held at the southern end of the lagoon west of Lüderitz, where between August and March every year there is a consistent, strong wind, blowing from the south at the perfect angle of 140 degrees to the sailing course. In the first edition of the event in 2007, participants sailed over a curved course. For the second edition, in 2008, a straight course was created by digging along the shore, providing also a very uniform water depth over the entire run. Performance was further enhanced by placing sandbags upwind of the run, and by using temporary wood “chop killers” that reduce the chop caused by the Lüderitz to winds. The total course length is , including the launching and slow-down zones, before a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing gained a popular following across Europe and North America by the late 1970s and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s. Windsurfing became an olympic sport in 1984. Newer variants include windfoiling, kiteboarding and wingfoiling. Hydrofoil fins under the board allow the boards to safely lift out of the water and fly silently and smoothly above the surface even in lighter winds. Windsurfing is a recreational, family friendly sport, most popular at flat water locations around the world that offer safety and accessibility for beginner and intermediate participants. Technique and equipment have evolved over the years Major competitive disciplines include slalom, wave and freestyle. Increasingly, "foiling" is replacing trad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zara Davis
Zara Davis (born 13 July 1966 in Bristol, England) is an English windsurfer. She holds the outright World Women’s Nautical Mile speed record for a sailing vessel. The record was achieved in Namibia in 2006 and ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. She has since improved this record for the Nautical Mile to 37.29 knots at La Plame in the South of France. Ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. She also held the Windsurfing World Women’s 500m record. Set in Luderitz Namibia in November 2012 held it for 3 years and regained it again in 2017 with a speed of 46.49 knots over the 500m course. It has been ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. Zara has won the ISWC European speed championships 6 times and the ISWC Speed World Championship 3 times, she is also ranked No1 in the world by the ISWC International Speed Windsurfing Class. Started windsurfing when she was 13 taught by her father John and started competing at British national level i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lüderitz
Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, including some Art Nouveau work, and for wildlife including seals, penguins, flamingos and ostriches. It is also home to a museum, and lies at the end of a decommissioned railway line to Keetmanshoop. The town is named after Adolf Lüderitz, founder of the German South West Africa colony. Economy and infrastructure The centre of Lüderitz' economic activity is the port, until the incorporation of the exclave Walvis Bay in 1994 the only suitable harbour on Namibia's coast. However, the harbour at Lüderitz has a comparatively shallow rock bottom, making it unusable for many modern ships. The recent addition of a new quay has allowed larger fishing vessels to dock at Lüderitz. The town has also re-styled itself in an attempt to lure tourists t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest (after Johannesburg). Colloquially named the ''Mother City'', it is the largest city of the Western Cape province, and is managed by the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The other two capitals are Pretoria, the executive capital, located in Gauteng, where the Presidency is based, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital in the Free State, where the Supreme Court of Appeal is located. Cape Town is ranked as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is home to 66% of the Western Cape's population. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speed Sailing
Speed sailing is the art of sailing a craft as fast as possible over a predetermined route, and having its overall or peak speed recorded and accredited by a regulatory body. The term usually refers to sailing on water, even though sailing on land and ice is progressively faster because of the lower friction involved. The World Sailing Speed Record Council is the body authorized by the World Sailing to confirm speed records of sailing craft (boats or sailboards) on water (not on ice or land). Sailing craft used The craft used vary from single sailor windsurfers or kitesurfers, to multi-hulls with crews of fifteen people. Many short course record attempts are made with boats based on the classic proa boat layout. Recent developments include hulls that rely on hydrofoils or planing hulls, which allow the hull to lift out of the water, and thereby increases speed by reducing friction. An example of a multihull hydrofoil design is the Hydroptère, designed by Alain Thébault. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Sailing Speed Record Council
The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) was founded in 1972, initially to ratify records at the inaugural Weymouth Speed Week held every year since in Portland Harbor.The WSSRC is the body authorized by the World Sailing (formerly International Sailing Federation, International Yacht Racing Union) to confirm speed records of sailing craft (boats, windsurfers and kitesurfers ) on water (not on ice or land). In the early years the council only dealt with claims of speed records on a one-way leg of 500 metres. Since 1988 the WSSRC is also responsible for offshore sailing records, because there were several controversial claims about the times of long voyages. The first records recorded in 1972 were the Outright record of Sir Timothy Colman, ''Crossbow'', 26.30 knots (D class); ''Icarus'' 21.6 knots (B class); ''Mayfly'' 16.40 knots and Lief Wagner Smitt, windsurfer 13.6 knots. One or more meetings were held every year and since 2001 the council has had a permanent secretari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Sailing Federation
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The Three Degrees album), 1975 *''International'', 2018 album by L'Algérino Songs * The Internationale, the left-wing anthem * "International" (Chase & Status song), 2014 * "International", by Adventures in Stereo from ''Monomania'', 2000 * "International", by Brass Construction from ''Renegades'', 1984 * "International", by Thomas Leer from ''The Scale of Ten'', 1985 * "International", by Kevin Michael from ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * "International", by McGuinness Flint from ''McGuinness Flint'', 1970 * "International", by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark from '' Dazzle Ships'', 1983 * "International (Serious)", by Estelle from '' All of Me'', 2012 Politics * Political international, any transnational organization of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Canal
The Saintes Maries de la Mer Speed Canal, known to windsurfing, windsurfers as The Canal, is a man-made canal or trench near the France, French Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal town Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Saintes Maries de la Mer, built especially for speed record-breaking sailing by windsurfers. Background The Canal, also called "The French Trench" by the English language, English-speaking community of windsurfers, is long and wide, in a west-northwest/east-southeast orientation designed to take advantage of the Marin (wind), Marin and Mistral (wind), Mistral winds that blow in that location. In 1987, the idea of building a speed canal was thought up by British speed windsurfer Erik Beale and St Marie speed week organizer Michel Roussolet. The first version was 850 m long and it enabled Beale on 13 November 1988 to become the first sailor in history to officially break the 40-Knot (unit), knot barrier, setting the Outright Speed Sailing Record of: * 40.48 knots ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finian Maynard
Finian Maynard (born 22 November 1974 in Dublin, Ireland) is a six-time speed windsurfing world champion (1998 - 2001, 2006 and 2009) and held the absolute 500m sailing speed record for all sailing vessels from late 2004 until early 2008. He went to the British Virgin Islands with his parents at the age of 5, hence his sail number KV11 resp. BVI11. When he was 7, he tried windsurfing for the first time and at the age of 15, he came 13th at the US Open at Corpus Christi, Texas. His career choice had been made. Finian Maynard is tall and weighs . This is widely seen as a good build for a speed sailor, giving him the strength and power to achieve high speeds. On 13 November 2004 he established a new speed world record for sailing vessels by reaching 46.82 knots in the French Trench near Saintes Maries de la Mer, surpassing the speed set in 1993 at Sandy Point Australia by Simon McKeon and the boat Yellow Pages. He improved his record a half year later, reaching 48.70 knots. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rob Douglas
Robert "Rob" Douglas (born 1971) is an American professional sailor known for using a kiteboard in speed sailing records attempts. In 2008 Douglas broke the world speed sailing record on a kiteboard, hitting a top speed of 49.84 knots. Douglas again became the holder of the speed record in October 2010 when he was clocked at 55.65 knots. Biography Early years Rob Douglas was born June 16, 1971 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA to a family which operated a sailing business."ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year Awards: Rob Douglas (USA)," International Sailing Federation, www.sailing.org/ Speed sailing record holder In 2008, Douglas became the first person to set an outright world speed sailing record aboard a kite board, hitting a speed of 49.84 nautical miles per hour.[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
