| Alex Caizergues leads the 2009 Luderitz Speed Challenge |
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| Monday, 02 November 2009 19:02 |
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November 1st was the first official racing day of the 2009 Lüderitz Speed Challenge. It began early with the event organizers helping prepare the timekeeping equipment to begin racing at 4:00 pm when the wind speed was expected to be at its highest. Nature wasn’t in a co-operative mood… similar to what happened last year, there was an unusually high tide covering the whole beach. This year, however, it also managed to break apart a big part of the chop-killer, so the first priority was to get that fixed. Congratulations to Sylvain Hoceini who is celebrating his birthday. He turned 41, like the speed he managed to record today. Too bad he wasn’t turning 55! The light conditions didn’t stop Felipe Johannpeter from setting a new Brazilian speed record of 38.15 knots (subject to ratification by the WSSRC). Congratulations Felipe! Light wind is expected for the rest of this first week, so most of the riders are settling back to patiently (but nervously) await the next wind cycle. Good news is that a lot of video is being produced about the various speed sailing events, allowing a global audience to witness the breaking of national and international records, both here in Lüderitz and beyond. Some great video footage of the first week of training was shot by Paul Railton of ‘Super Sport’ and has been put online (intro to the event with some stunning scenic footage and epic crashes, summary of Day 1). Now Paul is joined by a specialist team that has produced some outstanding documentaries on the life (and sport) aquatic, ‘Image Movement’.
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