Robert "Rob" Douglas (born 1971) is an American professional sailor known for using a kiteboard in

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 ...

records attempts. In 2008 Douglas broke the world

speed sailing record Speed sailing records are sanctioned, since 1972, by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Records are measured either by average speed over a specified distance or by total distance traveled during a specified time interval. The three ...

on a kiteboard, hitting a top speed of 49.84

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

. 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 Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, 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. This record proved to be short-lived, however, as another kiteboarder soon broke Douglas's mark, topping the 50 knot sailing barrier for the first time. Later in 2010 Douglas set three new American speed sailing records, being clocked at top speeds of 50.95, 51.88, and 52.58 knots. Another new speed record was set by on October 28, 2010, at the

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 Federat ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. On that date, in perfect conditions, Douglas was one of five kiteboarders to top the previous record held by a trimaran named ''

Hydroptère ''Hydroptère'' is a French experimental sailing hydrofoil trimaran imagined by the yachtman Éric Tabarly. The Hydroptère project was managed by Alain Thébault, the design done by naval architects VPLP design and the manufacturing by a gr ...

.'' Douglas was the fastest of the fivesome on that day, setting a new world mark of 55.65 knots (103.1 kilometres per hour). Douglas used a

Cabrinha Pete Cabrinha (born September 13, 1961 on Oahu, Hawaii) is an American big-wave surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer and artist. He is the founder and brand manager of Cabrinha Kites. Career Windsurfing In 1985 he won the world wave sailing cham ...

Switchblade kite and a custom speed board. Douglas's record setting prowess led to him be nominated by the International Sailing Federation for its 2011 ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards. In 2012, Douglas won the International Kitesurfing Association Speed World Championships in Salin-de-Giraud, France. In 2016, he defended his 2012 world speed title by winning the 2017 International Kitesurfing Association (IKA) Speed World Championships in Martha's Vineyard USA. In 2018 Douglas won his third speed sailing world crown by winning all 5 races and averaging over 50 knots in

Masirah Island Masirah Island ( ar, جَزِيْرَة مَصِيْرَة, Jazīrat Maṣīrah), also referred to as Mazeira Island or ''Wilāyat Maṣīrah'' ( ar, وِلَايَة مَصِيْرَة), is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the ...

, Oman at the IKA world championships. In 2019 Douglas set another kite speed world record (his 3 world record) by sailing an average speed of 39.04 knots over the nautical mile in La Palme, France.

Footnotes

External links

* (uploaded November 18, 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Rob 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Boston American kitesurfers Male kitesurfers