Antoine Albeau and Lena Erdil have been crowned winners of the 2015 Dunkerbeck GPS Speed Challenge, in Gruissan, France.
While 1200 windsurfers battled in the windy marathon of the Défi Wind, a total of 190 riders from 13 different countries entered a speed sailing contest set up by the Bjorn Dunkerbeck.
After registering, sailors turned their GPS devices on and tried their best in 500-meter runs. Albeau managed to drive his board and sail at 34.7 knots, leaving Pieter Bijl (33 knots) and Dunkerbeck (32.78 knots) in the remaining podium positions.
In the Women's division, Lena Erdil dominated the speed marks. The windsurfer from Izmir, in Turkey, sailed at 25.67 knots to steal gold from Annika Valkna (24.31 knots) and Alexandra Meier (22.09 knots).
However, this year, the Dunkerbeck GPS Speed Challenge invited windsurfers from all over the world to compete in a virtual championship, in which everyone can submit their best speed records.
The winners of the Virtual Worldwide Dunkerbeck GPS Speed Challenge 2015 are Hans Kreisel and Heike Kracke. Kreisel has also set a new world record for the fastest run (93,16 km/h, or 50.30 knots) ever made on open water.
"I had a great session on 'The Brace'. The wind was howling at 40-55 knots. I was on my 2014 Speed 45 with a 21-centimeter fin and the NP Evo 5.4," explained Hans Kreisel.
"It felt like a liberation finally getting the conditions to show the world what I'm capable of in the perfect storm. Open water has always been my preference, it shows much more skill then on a canal where everything is conditioned to perfection."
Kreisel believes he doesn't need a channel to break records. The Dutch hit a maximum speed of 53,125 knots, and he has a message for the world. "The day I'll break the 100 km/h mark is not far away."